Democracy Dies in Darkness

Trump official floats new approach on GDP, as economy is poised to slow sharply

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says government spending should be separate from economic growth, echoing comments from Elon Musk days earlier.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, right, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick attend a meeting with President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office on Feb. 13. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The Trump administration is suggesting a change in the way economic growth is measured, just as the economy appears poised to notch its worst performance since the pandemic-era shutdowns.

On Monday, an economic growth model from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecast a steep decline for the first three months of this year — a 2.8 percent contraction in economic growth, after nearly three years of solid growth.

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