During political campaigns, candidates often make promises that sound plausible but prove fanciful in practice.

Take hedge fund executive-turned-Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bessent soon promoted his “3-3-3” plan: reduce the federal deficit to 3% of GDP, lift sustained real GDP growth to 3%, and deregulate energy markets to expand domestic crude oil production by 3 million barrels per day.

Recommended Stories

Fiscal hawks skeptical of Bessent’s claim that US can ‘grow our way out’ of $40 trillion debt

Bessent says world is ‘awash in debt’ and growth is the only way out

CBO warns of ‘fiscal crisis’ as federal debt set to hit record by 2029