I searched the site and didn’t see this covered, apologies if it has.
www.msnbc.com/…
From Steve Benen:
“Some ‘liberal-leaning economists’ who share Sanders’ goals have begun to ‘question his numbers.’ Austan Goolsbee, formerly chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, now at the University of Chicago, told the Times that the Sanders campaign’s numbers ‘don’t remotely add up.’
[Of course he could be another ‘centrist scold,’ like Paul Krugman.]
One progressive analyst called Sanders’ platform “puppies and rainbows.”
Goolsbee said the numbers are more like “magic flying puppies with winning Lotto tickets tied to their collars.”
Also:
Jared Bernstein, the former economic adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. who is now at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, examined a paper by the economist advising Mr. Sanders, Gerald Friedman of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, that is circulating on the left.
While calling Mr. Friedman’s work a good effort, Mr. Bernstein cited several assumptions as “wishful thinking.” Among them were minimal health-cost inflation, economic growth reaching 5.3 percent and, in that heated-up economy, no action from the Federal Reserve to apply brakes.
Benen:
“In order for Sanders’ numbers to add up, he’s expecting the economy to grow at 5.3%. To put that in perspective, how many modern presidents – from either party – have seen 4% growth during their tenures? None. Literally, not a single one. Not Clinton, not Obama, not Reagan, no one has achieved growth that high. If any of them did, it’s awfully likely the Fed would raise interest rates, deliberately cooling growth out of inflationary fears.”
Benen says many of Sanders’ domestic priorities would help the economy enormously … but if he assumes 5.3% growth, there’s a problem. Republicans were derided for unrealistic pronouncements on growth, and “it’s only fair to subject Sanders’ agenda to the same scrutiny.”
Mr. Benen? Bus. Bus? Mr. Benen. Under you go!