Trump supporters continue to credit Trump for the current state of the economy. In fact, we are continuing to experience an economic upswing that began when Obama’s economic policies (although not perfect) saved us from a depression. The two main feature’s of Trump’s economic policies are:
AN ILL-CONCEIVED TRADE WAR: Trump, listening only to his trade adviser, Peter Navarro (an economics nut case, hired by Jared Kushner off Amazon.com), has initiated a poorly planned trade war— not just with China, but also with our allies. Already, the chickens are coming home to roost as, because of retaliatory tariffs from our trading partners, U.S. companies announce layoffs and Trump has had to announce a $12 billion dollar welfare payment to farmers.
Kudos to Trump for confronting China’s unfair trade practices. But unilaterally using tariffs to try to correct them, instead of enlisting the cooperation of our allies, is just plain stupid. Now Trump seems poised to wreak havoc on our own auto industry by messing around with the free flow of vehicles and components between the U.S. and Canada that is a key part of automotive manufacturing in both countries.
A DISASTROUS TAX CUT: The Trump tax cut did two things right: lowered the corporate tax rate and encouraged repatriation of foreign earnings. But it will prove disastrous because:
• It came during what was already an economic upswing;
• It exasperates wealth inequality by tilting the benefits toward the already rich at the expense of everybody else; and
• It balloons the deficit by not including spending cuts or revenue increases, hampering our ability to offset future recessions by deficit spending.
Anyone who understands the basics of economics knows that, at this stage in the economic cycle, we should be trying to run a surplus, not ballooning the deficit the way Trump is doing. It is obvious that all he is interested in doing is postponing the inevitable economic downturn until after 2020 – and to hell with the country (and our kids and grandkids) after that.
IN SUMMARY, trade and tax policies are complex issues. Trump apparently cut all his classes on economics at Wharton. He seems to understand nothing about the subject and to be unwilling to listen to those who do. Trump is intellectually, mentally, and temperamentally incapable of exercising finesse in dealing with complex issues– swinging a sledgehammer instead of wielding a scalpel.
Scott Fenstermaker is a resident of the Village of Winifred.
