Policy miscalculations can be costly to the taxpayers

In his Wednesday column, “Behold peril of public dole for stadium,” Victor Joecks points out some very good reasons to be leery of the promises that politicians throw out when trying to get legislation passed for things they want to spend money on, such as the new stadium for the Raiders. He is right to point out the unpredictable nature of forecasts of economic growth, job creation, new visitors and revenue increases. Any miscalculation of the benefits could leave future taxpayers on the hook to pay off the debt for years.

I hope that Mr. Joecks (and the Review-Journal) keeps this in mind when they begin to analyze Donald Trump’s tax proposal. Remember the unpredictable (and unreliable) nature of Mr. Trump’s forecasts of economic growth (5 percent), job creation (millions) and revenue increases (or loss). A miscalculation of any of these could result in future taxpayers being on the hook for trillions of dollars of debt. Is it really worth the risk?