President Trump and Congress should focus on spending reductions to counter exploding federal deficits and offset the budget impacts of extending tax cuts. One ripe area for reform is corporate welfare, which a new Cato study estimates costs the federal budget $181 billion a year.

Corporate welfare spending exploded under President Joe Biden, including handouts to the energy, broadband, automobile, and semiconductor industries. But President Trump also supports various types of corporate welfare, including farm subsidies and trade protections.

Cato experts Chris Edwards and Scott Lincicome provide a brief history of corporate welfare, discuss the economic costs, and propose reforms for federal policymakers. The scholars argue that cutting corporate welfare would boost growth and competitiveness, increase fairness, and reduce alarmingly high federal budget deficits.

Please join us at noon on March 21 in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2044.

Lunch will be provided.