The new New Deal: Sanders' economic plan would catapult U.S. economy

Comprehensive, independent analysis shows U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' proposals – including targeted spending and taxing the rich – would raise incomes, produce jobs and cause wider prosperity. Lauren McCauley from Common Dreams reports.

WITH SO many bold proposals, what might a Bernie Sanders presidency do to the national economy?

It turns out, great things.

In fact, according to the economist who performed the first independent, comprehensive analysis of the candidate's economic agenda, a Sanders win could usher in a modern-day "New Deal" under which Americans would see incomes rise, job markets grow, and an overall budget surplus by his second term.

"Like the New Deal of the 1930s, Senator Sanders' program is designed to do more than merely increase economic activity," said University of Massachusetts Amherst economics professor Gerald Friedman, who conducted the study, which was given exclusively to CNNMoney.

And, keeping in line with Sanders' promises to work towards a more "moral" distribution of wealth and create an economy for the 99 per cent, Friedman added that the candidate's plan will

"... promote a more just prosperity, broadly-based with a narrowing of economy inequality."

According to an economist, income and jobs would soar under a @BernieSanders presidency https://t.co/GskuQ2gXKu pic.twitter.com/lZfxzpZN9o
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) February 9, 2016

Assuming the Vermont senator was able to push his ambitious spending and tax proposals through Congress, the analysis found that median household income would reach $82,200 by 2026, which CNN notes is

'... far higher than the $59,300 projected by the Congressional Budget Office.'

What's more, the analysis found that

'... poverty would plummet to a record low 6%, as opposed to the CBO's forecast of 13.9%. The U.S. economy would grow by 5.3% per year, instead of 2.1%, and the nation's $1.3 trillion deficit would turn into a large surplus by Sanders' second term.'

Sanders has called to raise the minimum wage and shift wealth from the rich to middle- and working-class people through tax hikes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Further, his agenda aims to stimulate growth by pouring $14.5 trillion into the economy through spending on infrastructure and youth employment, increasing Social Security benefits, making college free, and expanding health care and family leave.

Friedman concludes that these policies would "be more stimulative" than his competitors' proposals, many of which included large tax cuts.

Though not commissioned by his campaign, Sanders' policy director reportedly called it "outstanding work".

Gerald Friedman joins @davidpakmanshow to talk costs and more importantly the savings of Bernie Sanders’ ideas. https://t.co/XnwvSSKnve
— S. Wash (@MrGPhantome) October 23, 2015

This story was originally published by Common Dreams on 8/2/16 under the heading 'Enacting Sanders Agenda Would Catapult Economy, Shatter Inequality' and has been republished under a Creative Commons licence.