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cover of episode Can Elon Musk save the US Government $2 trillion?

Can Elon Musk save the US Government $2 trillion?

2024/11/30
logo of podcast More or Less: Behind the Stats

More or Less: Behind the Stats
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Linda Bilmes
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Linda Bilmes教授对Elon Musk提出的两年内削减2万亿美元的政府预算计划表示质疑。她指出，这一目标基于将2024年预算支出与收入相减的简单计算，忽略了美国联邦政府支出系统的复杂性。其中，强制性支出（如社会保障、医疗保险等）占预算的60%左右，由法律规定，难以大幅削减。即使削减所有可自由支配支出，也无法达到2万亿美元的目标。此外，她还分析了自克林顿政府以来美国政府支出增加的主要原因，包括战争、减税和疫情刺激计划，以及人口老龄化导致的强制性支出增加。虽然可以通过堵塞税收漏洞、提高税收和调整退休年龄等措施来减少支出和增加收入，但要在一年内削减2万亿美元是不现实的。她认为，美国政府存在大量浪费，例如继续铸造成本高于面值的硬币，以及F-35战斗机的研发成本过高，这些都是可以削减的方面。但要实现大规模的预算削减，需要更全面的策略和更长的时间。 Charlotte McDonald作为主持人，引导Linda Bilmes教授分析了Elon Musk的提议，并探讨了美国政府预算平衡的可能性与挑战。她提出了关于强制性支出、可自由支配支出以及政府效率等关键问题，并总结了Linda Bilmes教授的观点，指出在一年内削减2万亿美元是不现实的，需要更长远和更全面的策略。

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Elon Musk co-heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with a pledge to cut at least $2 trillion to balance the budget. The discussion questions the feasibility of such a massive cut.
  • Elon Musk pledges to cut at least $2 trillion from the US budget.
  • $2 trillion is almost 30% of the current US spending.
  • Cutting $2 trillion in a year would be akin to destroying the federal government.

Shownotes Transcript

President Elect Donald Trump has created a new government advisory group – the Department of Government Efficiency or ‘DOGE’ - to help cut the US budget.

The world richest man, Elon Musk, will co-head the department and has pledged to cut ‘at least $2 trillion’ to ‘balance the budget’. But is this possible? We talk to Professor Linda Bilmes about what DOGE could or couldn’t do and how she balanced the budget in the 1990’s.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producer: Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound Mix: Andrew Mills Editor: Richard Vadon