Trump Claims He Invented the Phrase ‘priming the Pump.' He Didn't

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, who holds an Ivy League college degree in economics, claimed in an interview published Thursday that he recently invented the term "priming the pump" to describe his approach to presidential stewardship of the U.S. economy. "It's called priming the pump. You know, if you don't do that, you're never going to bring your taxes down," he said, defending a push to cut taxes even if that reduces revenues and drives up the federal deficit.The term has been in use for nearly a century and is a common way for economists and policymakers to describe stimulus effects of government spending or tax cuts.Trump invoked the term in an an interview with The Economist, which asked him to contrast "Trumpanomics" with orthodox Republican policy."It is OK, because it won't increase it for long. You may have two years where you'll...you understand the expression `prime the pump?' " Trump said. "We have to prime the pump.""Yes," the interviewer responded, according to the transcript the Economist posted, affirming an understanding of the phrase. "It's very Keynesian.""Have you heard that expression used before? Because I haven't heard it. I mean, I just...I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It's what you have to do," Trump said.The word mavens at Merriam-Webster begged to differ.  Continue reading...