Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better plan is starving the country about $60 billion in gross domestic product, Insider calculates …
Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better plan is starving the country about $60 billion in gross domestic product, Insider calculates based on Goldman Sachs‘ projections. What little hope Democrats had of passing their social-spending package evaporated on Sunday when the centrist West Virginia senator declared on Fox News that he wouldn’t vote for the proposal in its current form. While Senate Democrats haven’t completely thrown in the towel on passing another spending plan, Manchin’s statement signals it will need to be dramatically different to garner his support. Economists are already forecasting what a BBB-free economy will look like, and early projections are gloomy. Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius now expect US GDP to grow 2% in the first quarter,3% in the second quarter, and 2.75% in the third quarter, according to estimates published Monday. Those projections are down from 3%,3.5%, and 3%, respectively. If the revisions ring true, the difference in growth should add up to roughly $60 billion in economic losses over the next three quarters.
