The budget proposal’s spending cuts, in other words, are totally imaginary. The main outcome you can expect is that the promised savings won’t materialize.

The budget also counts on a serious increase in tax receipts as a result of optimistically high economic growth rates. These projected rates are sustained over the entire ten-year budget window despite the historical record showing that it is extremely unlikely to happen. To be fair, Trump is not unique in pretending that a booming economy will occur during his tenure; however, the assumptions made by his administration are eyebrow-raising to say the least.

Short of some miraculous technological innovation that blows the American economy’s mind, the tax receipts the administration envisions won’t come through either. And economic growth could be really impaired if the administration decided to follow through in its campaign promise to withdraw from NAFTA.