A majority of potential voters in the forthcoming presidential election believe that Donald Trump would deal more effectively with the economy than would Vice President Harris. The linchpins of Trump’s economic plan are tariffs on imported goods and significant tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. A large group of Nobel laureates and banking professionals have pointed out that the tariffs would simply be passed on to consumers. Rather than being a benefit, they would amount to a de facto tax of approximately $4,000 for a typical middle class family.
Trump claims that large tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy will increase economic output to the benefit of all. In practice this never happens. In an article published in The Socio-Economic Review, David Hope and Julian Limberg reported on all instances of major tax reductions on the rich in 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries between 1965 and 2015. They conclude that such tax reductions have little or no effect on economic growth or unemployment. In contrast, such tax cuts resulted in higher income inequality in both short and medium term.
In the words of the above-mentioned Nobel laureates, “We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the U.S.’s economic standing in the world and a destabilizing effect on the U.S.’s domestic economy.” This assessment is supported by members of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, who conclude that “all the policies examined cause a decline in U.S. production and employment, especially in trade-exposed sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture, as well as higher U.S. inflation.”
I would hope that those who favor Trump on the economy will spend some time informing themselves on these matters before it is too late.
Craig Rushforth, Kaysville
