Decoding economic policies: The Trump-Harris showdown

Donald Trump and self-styled Anti-Trump potential Democrat nominee, Kamala Harris, are poles apart on many issues, yet the introduction of J.D. Vance into the Trump equation means some lines of thought are closer than might be expected.

The daughter of an economics professor, Harris recently stated as vice president that “probably” the Biden administration’s “highest priority is bringing down the price of gas and cost of living,” reports The Guardian.

Harris backed Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act designed to boost domestic manufacturing and strengthen energy security by investing in clean energy and climate action, according to the White House website.

Meanwhile, Trump is pushing a protectionist agenda regarding global trade in line with Vance’s vision, according to The Financial Times: 10% on imports across the board and 60% on imports from China, with a weak dollar to boost exports.

Trump’s stance on immigration is a significant piece of the protectionist puzzle. As reported by the American Enterprise Institute, Trump has pledged to begin the largest deportation operation in US history if elected in November.

Vance told The New York Times earlier this year, “The main thrust of the postwar American order of globalization has involved relying more and more on cheaper labor. The trade issue and the immigration issue are two sides of the same coin.”

Harris is not alone in believing that such protectionism will fuel inflation. “There has never been a presidential platform so self-evidently inflationary as the one put forward by President Trump,” former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told The Atlantic in May.

Meanwhile, US business has claimed they will suffer from any curb on the supply of immigrant workers while believing high tariffs will negatively impact on trade with foreign markets, according to The Financial Times.

While Harris has championed Biden’s environmental policies, a Trump administration is likely to reverse anti-emissions and anti-pollution regulations and foster fossil fuel production.

Besides focusing on affordable care for both infants and seniors, Harris introduced legislation in 2018 to provide tax credits for renters paying landlords more than 30% of their gross salary, according to The Tax Policy Center, as well as a tax on capital gains.

In 2017, Trump’s administration passed a $1.7 trillion in tax cuts for individuals and corporations. If Trump wins another term, he could make this tax deal permanent as well as cutting the current 21% on corporations.

But Vance, a populist whose appeal lies in his concern for the blue-collar worker, is skeptical, given how these measures would benefit the rich, and his view could swing the issue.

“I want people to live good lives in our country,” Vance is reported saying by Reuters. “I don't really care if the entity that is most threatening to that vision is a private entity or a public entity.”

During her candidacy for California Attorney General, Harris is said to have described herself to potential donors in the tech world as “a capitalist,” according to Reuters.

Reuters adds that while Harris rubs shoulders with big tech execs, attending the wedding of the likes of Facebook’s former Sean Parker, she is not afraid to challenge them on issues such as the distribution of explicit photos.

“I cannot emphasize enough how leaders in technology have stepped up,” Reuters reports Harris saying. “I’m not suggesting any of them were happy to get a call from the Attorney General saying, ‘Come in, we want to talk with you.’ But they all did. They did.”

Vance appears to be on board with antitrust enforcement for big tech, preventing monopolies and protecting the consumer, including data privacy, and has called for the breakup of Google.

“Long overdue, but it’s time to break Google up,” Vance wrote on X early this year, adding that “monopolistic control of information in our society resides with an explicitly progressive technology company.”

Harris has a reputation for being tough on banks during her years as California Attorney General, launching a criminal investigation in Wells Fargo in 2016 and lobbying for a settlement in 2011 to get banks to help consumers hit by predatory lending practises.

Meanwhile, Vance has added his voice to those democrats calling for regulators to confiscate pay in the event of bank failures, according to The Financial Times, just one of several ideas from the left that has his support.

Earlier this year, Vance made statement to The New York Times, regarding his views on Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, “The people on the left, I would say, whose policies I’m open to – it’s the Berni Bros.”

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.