Polls show inflation is a top concern of voters, and could decide the 2024 election.
If you chose a candidate based on that issue, who would you go with, Biden or Trump? Here are 5 reasons why Trump might be the worst pick:
1. Trump favors tariffs.
Trump claims tariffs would be paid by China (or other country of origin), but that’s false. Tariffs are imposed on goods when they come into the country, then become part of the cost of goods, and are passed along to consumers through higher prices. From another perspective, Trump’s proposed tariffs amount to a consumption tax.
2. Trump wants lower interest rates.
Homebuyers, car shoppers, and credit card users do, too. It sounds good. But he would do this is by taking control of Federal Reserve policy, and temporarily raising interest rates is the Fed’s main tool for bringing inflation under control. Undercutting that policy would untame inflation.
3. Trump wants tax cuts.
Also sounds good, right? But the devil is in the details. Cutting taxes increases money in circulation, pressuring prices higher, and increasing the need for higher interest rates to control inflation. Biden supports extending the 2017 tax cuts for families making under $400,000, which is somewhat inflationary. Trump’s plan to extend all the tax cuts is more inflationary and would only benefit the rich.
4. Trump’s opposition to immigration contributes to inflation.
America has a worker shortage. This puts pressure on employers to raise wages, which is good for workers, but raises prices for everyone. The only available source of new workers is immigration, but Trump’s anti-immigration policies would cut off that source. The GOP’s partial solution is to relax child-labor laws and push kids into the workforce.
5. Trump supports a weaker dollar.
A weak dollar helps American manufacturers sell their goods abroad (think Boeing, once America’s biggest exporter by dollar value, although foreign airlines have other reasons to think twice about buying Boeing’s planes), but it makes the imported goods Americans have come to rely on more expensive.
These are the arguments against electing Trump if you’re worried about inflation (see story here).
Objectively, the Biden administration’s spending has worked against the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation, forcing the Fed to raise interest rates higher and for longer than it otherwise might have. But America badly needed the infrastructure improvements Biden’s initiative pays for; and Republicans generally don’t spend less, just spend on different stuff, and their deficits are as big or bigger, because they never miss an opportunity to cut taxes for the wealthiest.
It’s up to you. But try to see past the campaign rhetoric and superficial promises, because political promises are seldom what they seem, especially when they come from deceitful Republicans. Objective history shows the economy consistently does better under Democratic administrations.