Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Trump Economic Policy Madness



Donald Trump delivered what was billed as a foreign policy speech in Washington D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel (The venue was moved from the National Press Club because room for more attendees was needed).

For the most part, the speech did stick to his aggressive foreign policy, but there were plenty of hints as to the types of economic policies Trump would adopt as president.

The speech made it increasingly clear that Trump is not an advocate of free markets. He is anti-free market well beyond his absurd mercantilist trade views and seems to view the role of president as manager of the economy.

During his speech, he, of course, made the absurd claim that China was committing "theft of American jobs."

This was expected, though, it does show once again that Trump neither understands comparative advantage nor how jobs are fundamentally created.

And he appears far from a small government budget guy. He said:
"We will spend what we need to restore our military." (He wants a larger standing army, more planes and more ships)
How is he going to pay for this? Through cuts elsewhere?

Not quite. He said it will be paid for when he "makes the economy strong so that tax revenues will grow."

Most shocking, he appears to have hinted at a possible national industrial policy. He stated that 3d-printing and artificial intelligence were important growth areas for the country.

Donald Trump: Central planner.

-RW 

4 comments:

  1. Don't shoot the messenger here but Trump took a big stride towards the Presidency with this speech. You know and I know what should be advocated as a Policy - Free Market Capitalism, as that guy on TeeVee said. Larry Kudlow or something.

    Doesn't matter. We should the most free ever!, since some animal raised up on his back legs and grasped something he wanted with that hand with the opposable big thumb. We're not "more free" and many see "Dark Ages 2, the Sequel", as VERY near. Trump has seized this moment.

    We now return you to the Jerry Springer Story...

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  2. Hey Robert!

    I sent you this email, and I am still wondering your position on the following:

    Robert,

    Thanks for the reply! I am enthusiastic because I came across that section in my reading of Human Action, and immediately thought of Trump when reading part of it...I also wanted to pass along a lecture I found, and was attempting to get through yesterday (but was stopped short by the honey-do list...) from Tom DiLorenzo:

    Protectionism: Origin and Effects
    https://mises.org/library/protectionism-origin-and-effects-0


    The way DiLorenzo defines protectionism led me to two questions per our discussion (http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2016/04/a-discussion-on-trump-war-and.html)....He says at around 3:30, that protectionism is "a government policy whereby a government does to itself (its own country) what its enemies try to do in wartime."

    Why should I be concerned about a "battle in the Middle East", when Trump's economic policies will positively lead to a severe reduction in the standard of living in the US- with a much higher likelihood of impacting me personally and much more quickly, as well!?

    Do you envision the overall impact of further war in the Middle East to be more catastrophic than the economic impacts that Trump's protectionist policies entail?

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  3. No Fed rate hike today. I guess they're missing the BOOM too.

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  4. But what correlation is there, really, between a candidate's campaign pronouncements and his actual behavior in office? History suggests negative. Trump is exceptional but perhaps not *that* exceptional.

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