Will Clinton Plans Help Or Hurt?: Markets, Analysts Unsure of Impact
And is ClintonÛªs parallel plan for an economic stimulus still needed to fix what administration officials call a "jobless recovery"?</br></br>Confused by ClintonÛªs plan to slash the deficit with big tax increases and boost the economy with new spending and tax breaks, stock markets and financial analysts have been torn between gloom and boom.</br></br>The tax question is the one that most worries economists. On one hand, higher taxes could slow down the economy by taking money out of the pockets of consumers. On the other hand, the prospect of smaller federal budget deficits has already driven down interest rates and made it cheaper for ordinary people and corporations to borrow and spend.</br></br>"The Clinton plan for the economy raises many questions,Û said Martin Feldstein, a Harvard University economics professor and chairman of former president Ronald ReaganÛªs Council of Economic Advisers. "Among them is whether the current expansion is strong enough to continue despite the fiscal drag from a huge and permanent hike in taxes.Û</br></br>According to the Blue Chip survey of 29 leading economists, concern about the im-See IMPACT, A6, Col. 4 pact of the Clinton plan prompted the economists to cut their 1994 growth forecasts by an average of two-tenths of a percentage point, to