voodoo economics
plural noun [often treated as singular] US informal
An economic policy perceived as being unrealistic and ill-advised, in particular a policy of maintaining or increasing levels of public spending while reducing taxation: the numbers do not add up - talk about voodoo economics...
- The single policy is tax cuts - voodoo economics.
- Theoretically, this neo-liberal premise flows from Chicago-style voodoo economics.
- There is a reason this neoliberalism is called voodoo economics.
Origin
1980s: popularized as a disparaging term by George Bush (see Bush, George) in his 1980 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.