Harris, who is up against Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump, made the claims during a Unite for America event in Michigan alongside Oprah Winfrey. Referring to her economic plan, she said: “that is why Goldman Sachs […] is why Moody's, which is why Wharton School of Business, which is why 16 Nobel laureates, have collectively determined after analyzing our plans […] mine would strengthen the economy, his would weaken it.”
A spokesperson for the University of Pennsylvania’s research-based initiative Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) told Newsweek: “We did not find a positive impact on the economy from her plan in any future year. The Trump plan does increase GDP for a few years but lowers by the end of the 10-year budget window.”
Harris’ claims about Wharton came from a PWBM report that compared Trump’s tax and spending proposals with hers. The report found that Harris’ economic policy would increase primary deficits, meaning the government would need to borrow more money, but less so than Trump’s proposals.
Yet the PWBM analysis stated that Harris’s plan would cause a larger drop in GDP over time compared to Trump:
Under Trump: GDP is expected to fall by 0.4% by 2034 and 2.1% by 30 years.
Under Harris: GDP is expected to fall by 1.3% by 2034 and 4% by 30 years.
Although a Goldman Sachs report found that the US economy would be boosted under the Democrats, David Soloman, CEO of the investment banking firm, also said that Harris overstated the findings in her Unite for America statement.
The University of Pennsylvania has political figures among its Wharton notable alumni, with former president Donald Trump having reportedly studied for an undergraduate degree in economics in 1968 at the School of Finance.
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