Steven Rattner testified this morning before the House Ways and Means Committee on tax reform. At a similar hearing, almost exactly a year ago, Steve outlined four tests that any sound bill should meet: 1) It should be deficit neutral, given projections for rising fiscal gaps 2) It should be fair and certainly not diminish […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner discussed that contrary to Trump’s pronouncements that the economy is booming, several key metrics lag the performance of his predecessor. How strong is the economy? President Trump says far better than under President Obama; the data suggests otherwise. Let’s start with job growth. Since the dark days of […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner discussed that unnecessary fiscal stimulus measures amidst a near full-employment economy warrants concern – rising interest rates are a natural response. Interest rates have been rising amidst growing concerns about the effect of rising federal budget deficits on an economy that is already near full employment. According to […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner discussed that while Republicans maintain several mid-term election advantages, Trump’s historically low approval rating together with historically high G.O.P. retirements has opened the door for Democrats to reclaim the House. This past weekend’s round of opinion polls showed Donald Trump’s approval rate still stuck at 40% or even […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner discussed that while China has been a terrible trading partner, Trump’s approach to fixing the problem has been disruptive and unnecessarily confusing. President Trump’s handling of the trade issue has arguably been ham-handed at best, but in at least one respect he is correct: China has been a […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner discussed that despite Trump’s obsession with building a wall, illegal border crossings have been on a decades long decline with more non-Mexicans than Mexicans entering the States. President Trump is back haranguing about illegal border crossings from Mexico (perhaps because Congress denied him any significant funding for his […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner discussed how waning popularity for the G.O.P. tax cuts made its way into the Pennsylvania-18 elections. As expected, evidence continues to pile on how companies are spending their tax savings, and it isn’t earmarked for average Americans. When President Trump visited the Pennsylvania-18 Congressional district on Saturday night, […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner presented charts documenting the ever-rising mass shooting tragedies made possible by the outstanding number of guns owned in the US. Further, he shows how gun control can work. The Parkland killings were yet another reminder that no matter how you look at the data, it appears incontrovertible that […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner presented charts explaining how the passage of the G.O.P.’s most recent budget deal, layered on top of the tax package, puts the debt (relative to the size of the economy) profile on track to exceed post-WWII levels. Such fiscal irresponsibility has begun to rock the markets. (Please also […]
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Steven Rattner presented charts to explain some key culprits behind the stock markets’ recent decline. The stock market suffered its biggest drop yesterday since August 2011, a fall of more than 4%, bringing the total decline to nearly 8% from the peak. As always with financial markets, the reasons are hard […]
