The New Liberal Podcast Breaking Down the Big Beautiful Bill ft. Jason Furman & Ben Ritz
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Jun 18, 2025 
Jason Furman, an esteemed economist from Harvard and former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, joins Ben Ritz, a policy development expert at PPI, to delve into the implications of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. They explore how the bill could blow up the deficit, assess the Biden administration's fiscal strategies, and debate the impact of various tax cut proposals. The conversation also highlights the fragile nature of economic dynamics and warns against overlooking historical precedents for sustainable solutions.
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Biden's Mixed Fiscal Approach
- The Biden administration's initial COVID relief was larger than necessary and not paid for, increasing deficits.
- Subsequent Democratic bills promised fiscal responsibility but often used gimmicks, adding to the deficit anyway.
Fiscal Lessons from Post-Recession Response
- The post-2008 under-response to recession inspired the Biden administration to overshoot fiscal stimulus in 2021.
- There's tension between being fiscally responsible and not wanting to leave surplus space for future administrations to cut.
Deficits Have Present Costs
- Large deficits increase inflation and interest rates, which causes present and future economic pain.
- Fiscal policy trade-offs have real-time effects, not just future costs.
