President Trump on Wednesday began a populist push for tax reform, promising to supercharge the economy with budget-busting business tax cuts aimed at making US companies more globally competitive.

“It’s time to give the American workers the pay raise that they have been looking for for many, many years,’’ he said during a speech in Springfield, Mo.

But there are three big — maybe insurmountable — problems with Trump’s push for corporate tax changes. One, it’s premature. Two, it probably won’t provide the kind of economic benefits he’s promising. Three, even if Trump’s tax cuts did create jobs and boost economic growth, the Federal Reserve would act quickly to slow the economy back down.

Let’s take those one by one.

Trump’s tax push is premature

Washington isn’t ready for a tax overhaul. To begin with, Republicans haven’t even agreed on what kind of tax changes they want to pursue. Should they aim for a revenue-neutral plan, with the goal being to streamline the tax code by closing loopholes and lowering rates? Or is it major tax cuts they want, in hopes of turbo-charging the economy?

These are different goals, requiring wholly different approaches. Yet as of now, both are being considered.

Trump has always leaned toward the tax-cut side, promising a giant rate reduction for business, another for high-earning individuals, and no explanation for how to offset the trillion-dollar cost.

But the White House said recently that it won’t be releasing a proper plan, leaving to Congress the difficult work of turning promises into legislation.

And before it can really start down that path, Congress has more pressing issues to address. In just the next few months, it has to raise the debt ceiling and avert a government shutdown — both delicate and potentially incendiary issues likely to consume all the legislative energy until resolved.

Trump’s plans are unlikely to spur growth

Say Congress ultimately embraces something like Trump’s plan for trillions of dollars in cuts. That still wouldn’t provide the promised economic boon.

Which is not to say that tax cuts can’t ever work. Done right, they can provide powerful stimulus for a struggling economy. During the financial crisis of 2007-2009, for instance, payroll tax cuts put more money into people’s pockets, which they used to buy things and seed the economy with new spending.

But the theory behind Trump’s cuts is totally different. He’s not giving refunds to workers; he’s aiming to reduce the tax bill for corporations and wealthy individuals, in hopes they’ll use that extra money more efficiently than the government could — by seeking out innovative investments, expanding operations, and hiring workers.

It would all make sense if the economy were being held back by a lack of corporate cash and investor resources. But high-earning individuals are already doing historically well, as we know from revelations about the rise of inequality. And businesses have lots of money. In fact, they’ve been generating record profits.

Tax breaks could add to the piles of corporate cash, but it’s not clear why they would spur new investment — and new growth opportunities — given that businesses already have resources that they’re choosing not to invest.

The Federal Reserve won’t allow this plan to work

Even if this is all wrong, and Trump’s tax cuts are what’s needed to stoke the economy, they still wouldn’t work. That’s because you can’t heat an economy when the Federal Reserve is standing by to cool it down.

Part of the Fed’s job is to make sure the US economy maintains a Goldilocks growth rate — not too slow, not too fast. And recently the Fed has been tapping the brakes, raising interest rates repeatedly, out of concern that we might otherwise trigger a dangerous level of inflation.

Now, it’s true that many economists disagree with the Fed’s recent moves, arguing that higher inflation and heady growth are exactly what workers need. But unless Trump nominates one of these heterodox economists as the new Fed chair, it won’t matter. The Federal Reserve runs the show, and in its view the economy is already growing as fast as it safely can.

Which means that if Trump’s tax cuts did generate lots of additional investment and a crush of new jobs, the Fed would only raise rates more quickly, deliberately slowing the economy and thus offsetting any benefits.

This is the real problem with Trump’s promise to help Main Street by cutting taxes for Wall Street. Not that his tax plans are likely to die in Congress, the way his health reform plans did. Ultimately, Republicans are likely to coalesce around some kind of substantial tax plan, even if we can’t guess what it will include.

But whatever plan they land on, it’s unlikely to help workers or improve the US economy. Not when unemployment is already low and profits high.

Evan Horowitz digs through data to find information that illuminates the policy issues facing Massachusetts and the United States. He can be reached at evan.horowitz@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeHorowitz.