U.S. Economy Grew at 3% Rate in 3rd Quarter, Despite Storms<br />Representative Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement on Friday<br />that “our economy produced solid growth last quarter” while going on to say that tax reform was a way to “continue this growth” and “reinvigorate America’s economy.”<br />On Friday, Mr. Hassett and the Council of Economic Advisers released projections of how one prospective provision of<br />the tax plan — a reduction in corporate tax rates to 20 percent from 35 percent — would affect economic growth.<br />The complication is that faster growth could undermine the party’s case<br />that tax cuts are needed to add fuel to an economy that is already running with low unemployment — and it could lead the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates more quickly, which could dampen the effects of any tax bill.<br />The nation’s gross domestic product, a key indicator of economic strength, expanded at an annual<br />rate of 3 percent in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.<br />“Keep on rockin’ steady with Yellen at the Fed, and there’s no need for a big, wasteful tax cut.”<br />The Fed, judging that the economy is growing about as fast as it can, is on course to raise its benchmark interest<br />rate in December to a level Fed officials have described as likely neither to encourage nor to discourage growth.<br />Republicans called the report a sign that businesses are already spending more in anticipation of a corporate tax cut, and evidence<br />that the economy could grow faster over the long term than currently forecast.
