Weekly Economic Snapshot 11/27 - 12/1
Economic Facts for This Week
- Under PAYGO rules, Republicans’ plan to add $1.5 trillion to the debt would trigger $410 billion in Medicare cuts over the next ten years.
- The Senate tax proposal raises taxes on working families in order to pass a permanent corporate tax cut.
- When fully implemented in 2027, half of all households would face a tax increase, including more than 64 million making less than $93,200.
- The Senate bill also repeals the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which will increase the number of uninsured by 13 million in 2027.
- The tax bill passed by the House would also have detrimental effects on millions of families and the overall economy:
- Repeals the medical expense deduction taken by 7.2 million individuals earning under $100,000 in 2015, at an average amount of $9,075.
- Puts 4.5 million infrastructure and construction jobs potentially at risk by eliminating critical infrastructure financing sources.
- Forces graduate students and university staff to pay taxes on tuition discounts used to pay for schooling.
Chart of the Week
The Senate tax cut proposal makes the GOP’s priorities clear—once the bill is fully implemented, it will raise taxes on individuals in order to make tax cuts for corporations permanent. In 2027, the bill raises taxes on the individual side of the code by $43 billion while cutting taxes on corporations by $54 billion. Because corporate equity is mostly owned by wealthy Americans, this has the effect of making the tax code more regressive—shifting the tax burden more towards working families.
ICYMI
- JEC Ranking Member Martin Heinrich says if Republicans insist on deficit spending, let’s invest in people and communities instead. Read his op-ed here.
- Stagnating wages are a result of both policy choices and economic trends, according to analysis from The Hamilton Project.
- Repealing the estate tax would exacerbate the already vast racial wealth gap, according to analysis by the Center for American Progress.
Coming This Week
- Tuesday 9:00am: S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller House Price Index -
- Tuesday 9:00am: Conference Board Consumer Confidence - https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerconfidence.cfm
- Wednesday 8:30am: Gross Domestic Product (3rd quarter, second estimate) -
https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm
- Wednesday 10:00 am: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies before Joint Economic Committee - https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings-calendar?ID=07EA0C09-F5E7-4C0A-A2F4-07F999538214
- Friday 10:00am: ISM Manufacturing Index -
https://www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org/ISMReport/MfgROB.cfm?SSO=1
