After Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman warned weeks ago that President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff policies make a US recession seem “likely,” six of the laureates joined forces on Monday to express their “grave concern” about the cuts to social security programs contained in the US president’s tax and budget bill, and called for its rejection in the Senate.

In an open letter, laureates Daron Acemoglu, Peter Diamond, Oliver Hart, Simon Johnson, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz warn of the “inverted priorities” of the proposal – under discussion in the Senate today – which “significantly increases the debt” while “reducing the income of the poorest 40%.

Initially, Trump’s tariffs and the restructuring of global trade shook national and international markets, with Wall Street collapsing, setting off alarm bells, but now the outlook looks bleaker.

“The most acute and immediate harm that would result from this bill would be felt by the millions of American families who would lose key protections of their safety net,” specifically the Medicaid and Medicare health care programs, and food assistance, they indicated.

These cuts “represent a sad step backward in the country’s commitment to providing access to health care for all,” they insist in the letter, published today on the Economic Policy Institute’s website.

The mega-project dubbed “the big and beautiful bill” passed by a narrow margin of 215-214 in the House. Now it goes to the Senate, where it faces a difficult path in search of votes for its final approval, amid pressure from the White House to have it reach Trump's desk before July 4.

The ambitious plan seeks to extend Trump's tax relief in his first term (2017-2021) and adds new reductions,such as exemptions on tips and purchases of domestically manufactured cars, along with increased funding for the president's tough immigration enforcement policy.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the new legislation will add about $3 trillion over 10 years to the national debt, currently estimated at more than $36 trillion.

The plan seeks to offset this increase by cutting more than $1 trillion to social programs.

Federal Medicaid funding would be reduced by nearly $700 billion, according to the CBO, which estimated Medicare cuts of about $500 billion. The independent agency warned that the figure is likely to rise, adding that food stamp assistance would also be cut by about $267 billion.

“U.S. structural deficits are already too high (…) and these tax cuts overwhelmingly favor higher-income households,” the six renowned experts said, also predicting that “rising debt and deficits will put significant upward pressure on inflation and interest rates in the coming years.”

According to the award-winning economists, the bill as it stands “fails to effectively address any of the country’s key economic challenges and, in fact, exacerbates many of them.”

“The Senate should refuse to pass this bill and start over with the budget,” the Nobel laureates urged.

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