The Nation - News from Aug. 11, 1986

President Reagan’s chief economic adviser said a surprisingly buoyant economy may help the government avoid the prospect of making across-the-board spending cuts next year under the Gramm-Rudman law. Beryl W. Sprinkel, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, stuck to the Administration’s optimistic economic growth forecast, which he said will help keep the federal budget deficit below the ceiling required under the law. While the Administration lowered its 1986 growth forecast last week to 3.2%, it said the U.S. gross national product would expand by a robust 4.2% in 1987.