Many leading Democrats love to obsesses about President Trump being a “racist” (something I push back on ) misogynistic behaviour (100% accurate) and a threat to democracy (I agree with this critique as well) while seemingly being disinterested in the actual public policy Trump advocates. I will concede much of this has to do with the influence of unions in the Democratic Party and the fact that monetary policy is boring to discuss.

So let me bring our readers up to speed if you don’t know – Trump’s plans for a potential second terms will be CATASTROPHIC to the US economy and our global leadership. He’s made very clear his economic vision in recent months and the selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate doubles-down on this view. It is an economic plan that will lead to runaway inflation, a potential collapse of our export sector and ultimately a decline in living standards in a nation that is already experiencing a decline in average life expectancy.

What is Trumpnomics?

• Reckless Tax cuts – Trump is promising more tax cuts for the super-rich and no doubt a continued crony-capitalist structure which will increase the income gap.
• More and more tariffs – this is the real meat and potatoes of the Trump plan. Throw up tarrifs on foreign goods, increasing the costs of the very consumer goods and essentials that fuel not only American consumption BUT also in many cases the necessities of life. Given Trump will have to generate sufficient revenue to offset his tax cuts, expect something in the neighborhood of a 50% tariff on goods – not only from China but from allies. And expect an effort to renegotiate the current agreement with Canada and Mexico.
• What will these tariffs results in? Higher costs for the average American and an increasing inflationary spiral. Supply chain problems will probably increase and any hope that this revives American manufacturing is foolhardy. To a large extent Joe Biden was wrong on this also, and perhaps having a fresher face like Kamala Harris as the standard-bearer of the Dem Party may allow a real contrast in policies. There was a contrast between Obama and Trump on these matters, but the lines were more blurred between Biden’s efforts to placate Midwestern voters talking about the fantasy of bringing back manufacturing as well as maintained high tariffs and Trump’s views.
• Foreign governments WILL retaliate against the US raising tariffs on US goods, hurting US companies that don’t have foreign subsidiaries (Coca-Cola and the Tech companies will be fine, but what about the others?)and ultimately killing jobs in THIS COUNTRY.
• Trump also plans to devalue the dollar, which will perhaps lead to the removal of the dollar as the global reserve currency. This is a long-standing consistent view of Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance.
• Trump also plans to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve. While he’s backpedaled and promised now to allow Fed Chair Jerome Powell to finish his term, no doubt Trump will attempt to brow-beat the fed into implementing the Trump agenda. Trump MAGA backers like to call the Democrats “socialists” yet it is the Republicans who now advocate the sort of interference by government in the economy and monetary policy that would have free-market types like Milton Friedman rolling over in the their graves.
• Also note the US will fall further and further back in combating Climate Change, putting this country squarely in the cross-hairs as the CHIEF ENABLER of climate catastrophe globally. Even conservative parties in other western democracies have accepted some premise of Net Zero or curbing emissions. On this, the GOP truly stands out as a force that could crash the global order and economy.

Bottom line is this – Trump’s economic policies which have nothing to do with race, identity and little to do with Authoritarianism (except the Fed piece which I think is critical, because no other President in my lifetime ever messed in monetary policy the way Trump did and he promises to do MORE of it in a second term) could continue America’s clear decline and lead us to stare into the abyss.