2018-02-15

One Reason to Expect Inflation

Trump will run $1 trillion deficits for the entirety of his administration if forecasts are correct. His administration recently predicted $30 trillion in debt in 2028, an annualized increase of $1 trillion per year.
If the economy doesn't grow as fast as Trump is promising, additional Pentagon spending is needed for military reasons and interest rates rise more than anticipated because of the increased federal borrowing, consecutive deficits between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion are not out of the question
Forbes: The Trump Budget Legacy: A Permanent $1 Trillion Federal Deficit

The largest deficit under Reagan was 5.7 percent of GDP in 1983. If Trump "achieves" a $1 trillion deficit this year it will be roughly 4.9 percent of GDP assuming 3 percent growth. The U.S. ran similar deficits from 1984 through 1986. Assuming 4 percent nominal growth (the post-2008 trend), a $1 trillion deficit falls to about 3.6 percent of GDP when Trump leaves office. Economic forecasts are close to worthless, but if this holds up, the U.S. will inject more fiscal stimulus as a percentage of GDP under Trump than it did under Reagan. Should growth pick up this overestimates the deficit as a percent of GDP. However, 5 percent deficits as a percentage of GDP didn't achieve much in 2012. If China slows again, it's possible massive deficit spending will only bump growth up to the post-2008 highs rather than break trend.

The initial impact of the Trump tax cuts was rising revenue as companies pay taxes on repatriated overseas earnings. As this wears off, money printing will begin in earnest. Then, and only then, is a sustained rise in inflation possible under current economic conditions.

There is no crowding out effect from government debt. Rising treasury issuance expands the money supply. The federal government is doing what the Federal Reserve could not do: print money.

U.S. Debt Clock

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