There's an economic fantasy you sometimes hear in D.C. It often gets trotted out when politicians are trying to add billions or trillions to the national debt. They claim that all the new spending will be worth it in the end because we will supercharge economic growth.
This fantasy recurs again and again, because economic growth is a potent force. Over the next few decades, tiny changes in how fast our economy grows could decide the fate of the federal government — whether we can bring the massive national debt under control or whether we spiral into a fiscal crisis.
Today on the show, we talk to three economists who have been sifting through the latest evidence. They're trying to figure out what the government could actually do to make the economy grow faster. Could we even grow fast enough to outrun our national debt?
For a list of citations, check out our episode page.
This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
The so-called 'big, beautiful bill' has squeaked by in the Senate and now moves back to the House.
The massive piece of legislation is the centerpiece of Trump's agenda, filled with tax breaks and spending cuts that would touch just about every American.
We discuss what's on the table now in the GOP mega bill. And how might it affect us if it passes.
The US rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs is awaiting a bail decision after being found guilty on prostitution charges relating to his sex parties. He was cleared of three more serious charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. The closely-followed trial in New York lasted almost two months, featuring sometimes emotional testimony from more than 30 witnesses including his ex-partners. The courtroom heard lurid details about Mr Combs' so-called "freak-off" hotel sex parties that involved women including his girlfriends, male escorts and copious drug taking.
Also in the programme: Ukraine wants answers from America over a scaling back of military aid, warning the move will embolden Russia; and the composer who has written a piece of music based on the movements of moths.
(File photo: Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, New York City, 1 May, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson/File Photo)
Join Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway and RealClearInvestigations Senior Writer Mark Hemingway as they discuss declining patriotism in America, analyze Sen. Thom Tillis' retirement announcement, break down the Supreme Court majority's scathing rebuke of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and review F1.
If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.
Plus: Centene shares tumble after the healthcare company says its earnings will fall short of expectations. Modelo brewer Constellation Brands expects President Trump’s new tariffs to increase its costs by $20 million this fiscal year. Ariana Aspuru hosts.
Trump’s policy bill includes various cuts to Medicaid, implementing stricter requirements that will affect if people with disabilities receive health care coverage. Reset learns more about how this legislation could affect local Chicagoans with disabilities with Access Living policy analyst Sebastian Nalls and disability right activist and Medicaid recipient David Gayes.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
This summer marks 80 years since the end of World War II when Allied forces liberated Nazi-occupied Europe, and also began to discover the horrific scale of the Holocaust.
An estimated six million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime.
With the passage of time, there are fewer and fewer survivors who can tell the stories of what they witnessed and endured.
Once fringe ideas of Holocaust denial are spreading. Multiple members of President Donald Trump's administration have expressed support for Nazi sympathizers and people who promote antisemitism.
The stories of those who lived through the Holocaust are in danger of being forgotten. And there's a race against time to record as many as possible.
In this episode, the story of a Jewish man who survived Buchenwald and an American soldier, who helped liberate the concentration camp.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Donald Trump had one of the best Junes of any modern president. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded the lowest number of illegal aliens crossing the southern border, ever. His tariff policies did not collapse the economy. In fact, the stock market is nearing record highs. Iran’s nuclear program was severely weakened without 30,000 people having to die in another endless war.
However, for every victory, there is another impending challenge President Trump will have to grapple with argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:”
“Bottom line: Donald Trump's going to have to decide, when countries come to him and say, "We'll run a deficit with you, we will have symmetrical tariffs," or, "We'll have no tariffs," is he going to take that or not? If Iran violates the ceasefire—and to what degree that would be true I don't know, but if we see trucks going into these enrichment sites or we find evidence of a new one, he's going to have to act and deal with a fallout.
And then, of course, on the border, it's not going to be a problem of new illegal aliens. It's not going to be a problem of the 12 million that Joe Biden let in. But there will be some people that he'll have to decide, and I think it would be wise for them to have to pay a fine, get a green card, continue working, stay off social services, stay crime-free, and become a valuable green card holder.”
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
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