Meet the Man Who Says Bernie Sanders Can Deliver 5.3% Economic Growth

[Uncle Joe]

Fortune reached out to Friedman to get his side of the story. The following transcript of the conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Fortune: What is your response to the open letter?

Gerald Friedman: First of all, I don’t know if they read my report. There’s nothing in my letter that indicates that they read my report. For what it’s worth, I only just put it up on the web yesterday [February 16], and so there’s nothing that indicates they read it. And none of them ever contacted me for a copy.

(snip)

As far as the actual mechanics of it, what I did was completely conventional. I take the multipliers that the Congressional Budget Office uses. I actually assume a reduction in the value of the multiplier over time as the economy expands, and I apply those multipliers to the spending program minus the taxes of the Sanders plan.

I do things with the minimum wage. I make assumptions about how many jobs will be lost. But these are fairly standard assumptions. I get more in terms of GDP, I get a bit of bang out of the healthcare program, because what you are doing is turning premiums paid by working people and turning it into taxes paid by upper-income people. That gives you a boost, especially in the early years.

Somebody could question, as I have a lot, some of my assumptions, but there’s nothing unusual about my methods or the results.

(snip)

http://fortune.com/2016/02/18/bernie-sanders-economic-growth/

This is a good interview.

[berniepdx420]

1. Thanks for the post Uncle Joe...

[Uncle Joe]

2. It was my pleasure, berniepdx.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kangaroo kick.