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Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living

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Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

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Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

1

Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living

2

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

3

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
Leadership

Trump Thinks the U.S. Could See 6% Economic Growth. The Data Says Otherwise.

By
Natasha Bach
Natasha Bach
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By
Natasha Bach
Natasha Bach
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December 7, 2017, 5:56 AM ET
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President Donald Trump is feeling pretty good about the United States’ economic prospects.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he expects to see a 6% annual growth rate. That might not sound like a wild number, until you consider that 6% more than doubles the 30-year average rate of 2.5%. Six percent is also more than triple what the Congressional Budget Office forecasts for the next ten years.

Read: Trump Says GOP Tax Plan Is Becoming ‘More Popular.’ Is He Right?

According to Bloomberg, Trump claimed that the combination of high consumer confidence, job creation, and tax cuts would create this considerable growth. Trump claimed that he sees “no reason why we don’t go to 4, 5, even 6%.”

Unfortunately, Trump didn’t explain exactly how this jump would happen, and few economists support his claim. In a Bloomberg survey of 80 economists, only one forecast showed a growth above 4%. The median was 2.5%—which has long been the average. What’s more, the Joint Committee on Taxation found that the potential growth from the GOP tax plan would only add 0.8% to the current forecast over the next decade.

Read: Here’s What’s Going to Happen to the Economy Next Year

While Trump’s ambition does not appear to be rooted in sound economic analysis, it is not the first time he has painted an overly rosy outlook for the U.S. economy. In August, Trump compared the U.S.’s 2% annual growth over the last decade with other countries that are “unhappy when it’s 7, 8, 9%.” With these other economies as a model, Trump claimed at the time that he thinks “we can go much higher than 3%. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t.” What he failed to mention is that only seven of the close to 200 countries tracked by the IMF have seen more than 7% growth over the last year.

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