Liberal economists blast claims that Bernie Sanders' policies would create enormous growth

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last updated 17 February 2016

A group of highly respected liberal economists have written an open letter to Bernie Sanders and economist Gerald Friedman expressing concerns about circulating claims that Sanders' economic policies would create soaring growth and jobs. Friedman had backed Sanders' economic policy, suggesting that it would create 26 million jobs with unemployment falling to 3.8 percent and median income rising by more than $22,000. However, the economists wrote Wednesday that there is in fact "no credible economic research" to support Friedman's conclusions.

The economists were scathing in their criticism of Sanders promoting such policies without evidence:

For many years, we have worked to make the Democratic Party the party of evidence-based economic policy. When Republicans have proposed large tax cuts for the wealthy and asserted that those tax cuts would pay for themselves, for example, we have shown that the economic facts do not support these fantastical claims. We have applied the same rigor to proposals by Democrats [...]As much as we wish it were so, no credible economic research supports economic impacts of [the magnitudes suggested by Friedman]. Making such promises runs against our party’s best traditions of evidence-based policy making and undermines our reputation as the party of responsible arithmetic. These claims undermine the credibility of the progressive economic agenda and make it that much more difficult to challenge the unrealistic claims made by Republican candidates. [Letter to Sanders]

Three of the economists who signed the letter chaired on President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, The New York Times reports. Another economist was on the council during former President Bill Clinton's administration. Read the full letter here.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.