The stated rationale for jettisoning environmental protections is that they are inefficient and have “suffocated” the economy. But economic benefits must be weighed against costs, including impacts on human health.
Robert Pollin is Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
As of today, the U.S. government’s current deficit and debt are indeed currently at unprecedented levels for peacetime—once we account for them appropriately.
