Experts blast Trump proposal for national debt

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

In the event that the U.S. economy crashed, Donald Trump has floated a recovery plan based on his own experience with corporate bankruptcy: Pay America’s creditors less than full value on the U.S. Treasurys they hold.

Experts see it as a reckless idea that would send interest rates soaring, derail economic growth and undermine confidence in the world’s most trusted financial asset.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee suggested in a phone interview Thursday with CNBC that he would stimulate growth through borrowing. If trouble arose, he added, he could get investors to accept reduced payments for their Treasury holdings.

Trump later clarified that comment to say he would offer to buy the bonds back at a discount from investors in hopes of refinancing them at lower rates.

“I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal,” Trump told CNBC.

Such a move, never before attempted by the U.S. government, likely would spook investors whose trust in Treasury notes keeps global financial markets operating.

The need to refinance likely would cause interest rates to spike as investors demanded a greater return for the perceived risks of nonpayment. More tax dollars would have to go toward repaying the debt. Many investors would shift their money elsewhere. And the economy could endure a traumatic blow.

“It seems Trump is planning to try to run the country like one of his failed business ventures, and that does not bode well,” said Megan Greene, chief economist at Manulife.