Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon threw cold water on Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris' assertion during Tuesday night's debate that her economic plan would "strengthen the economy" while Republican Donald Trump's would make it worse.
Harris referenced Goldman Sachs by name during the debate, framing it as if the investment banking company preferred her economic plan over Trump's. The difference between the two plans, Solomon told CNBC on Wednesday, "is about two-tenths of 1%."
But this is what Harris said while touting her plan to expand the child tax credit to $6,000 for newborns.
"What Goldman Sachs has said is that Donald Trump's plan would make the economy worse, mine would strengthen the economy."
"So, that report, which was mentioned last night in the debate, came from an independent analyst, and it's interesting, Scott [Wapner, reporter], I think a lot more has been made of this than should be," Solomon told CNBC.
"What the report did is it looked at a handful of policy issues that have been put out by both sides, and it tried to model their impact on GDP growth. The reason I say a bigger deal has been made of it is what it showed is the difference between the sets of policies that they've put forward is about two-tenths of 1%."
The independent report referenced by Solomon said that a sweep by Democrats – both chambers of Congress and the White House – would result in a "very slight boost" to GDP investment and GDP growth "on average over 2025-26," Reuters reported.
"So, the economy grows, if you took these particular sets of policies they looked at – and by the way, we have no idea whether these policies, these things that are talked about, will ultimately be implemented – and what was the growth impact? And the differential was two-tenths of 1%," Solomon said.
"I think our clients are trying to look at what's going on from a policy perspective and make judgments. I think this blew up into something that's bigger than what it was intended to be."