The Trump administration claims his tax cuts will pay for themselves. Only 5 percent of economists believe that.

President Trump
(Image credit: Olivier Douliery - Pool/Getty Images)

President Trump has assured America that the government will not have to borrow more money to compensate for the huge tax cuts he's proposed, but economists aren't sold. A new survey by the University of Chicago found that 84 percent of economists do not believe the Trump administration's claim that the economic growth spurred by his tax cuts — alongside the elimination of some tax breaks — will make up the difference. Only 5 percent of economists said they thought Trump's tax cuts would indeed pay for themselves.

Trump has proposed cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, and whittling the seven existing tax brackets down to three rates of 10, 25, and 35 percent. Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has claimed the cuts "could increase the rate of economic growth from around 2 percent to as much as 3 percent a year," The Washington Post reported.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More