Updated Oct. 15, 2024 –
Before getting into the dirty little secrets Donald Trump has revealed about the economy, let’s get something out of the way.
We can agree President Trump has sometimes appeared to be insensitive and crass, at times.
Indeed, the liberal media. Democrats, “Never Trump Republicans,” and a few business leaders fail to focus on his strong economic accomplishments as president. They focus on his style.
Let’s get into why.
For starters and not to minimize, Mr. Trump is a marketer – a genius at it. Moreover, he is practicing the points he advocates in his book, “The Art of the Deal.” (I once thought I was the originator of The 7 Steps to Higher Sales. After analyzing his approach, I realized he uses the same principles including never ending a rally without saying “thank you”. The difference is that he uses a lot of what can be termed “marketing puffery.”)
So now, as in his blueprint for his successful 2016 presidential campaign, he has attacked, walked away, counter-punched when attacked, and when he’s won, he has been being gracious.
He comes across as arrogant in repeatedly discussing his successes. But he’s using a sales technique known as “preventing buyers’ remorse.” He has reminded people about his successes so people remember his strengths; that he’ll get the job done as president.
But is it all smoke and mirrors? Like just about any stellar politician, salesperson or marketer, Mr. Trump understands human nature. He knows he has had to tap into sufficient numbers of voter emotions in order to win election again.
So he has pushed the envelope; to say the least. The polls show people get why. So also do angry entrepreneurs, and millions of different demographics of voters who are angry at the decline of America – the lowering of standards.
Marketing puffery
As a business magnate, he knows the U.S. is in so much fiscal trouble we might never solve our desperate situation. Mr. Trump engages in marketing puffery to get his urgent “Make America Great Again” message across to voters.
Sometimes he’s been relentlessly vicious as president — just as he did in whittling down the field of 17 Republican candidates. That included a favorite of mine whom I interviewed, Dr. Ben Carson (Q&A with Dr. Ben Carson – The Full Meal Deal with Solutions).
“There are two Donald Trumps,” says Dr. Carson.
“There’s the one you see on the stage and there’s the one who is very cerebral, sits there and considers things very carefully. You can have a very good conversation with him. That’s the Donald Trump that you’re going to start seeing more and more of,” he concludes.
(I agree after talking with two of my longtime friends who once approached him for his help. They both say he was very considerate and willingly helped them without asking for payment.)
Mr. Trump is the only savvy Republican who has also attracted Independents, Democrats and people who never voted before.
So what are the dirty little secrets Mr. Trump hadn’t discussed about the economy?
Trump critics
Yes, he raised eyebrows about his call to surcharge foreign products.
His critics – political and in the media – have distorted the impacts from his advocacy for high tariffs to create a trade balance.
Merely for the purpose of attacking Mr. Trump’s credibility, they have claimed consumers will pay higher prices as a result of surcharges on products made overseas. Not true.
He created millions of of new jobs in his term. His administration secured his first major trade deal with South Korea by leveraging his threat of aluminum and steel tariffs to get concessions on steel exports and imports of American cars.
Mr. Trump points out the macro economics of the issues.
He attended one of the finest finance schools in America, but he doesn’t get technically specific because Americans won’t understand his concerns. He speaks in simple, easy-to-understand terms. He learned that technique by working in the media.
He’s been the only one of a few leaders to talk repeatedly about the dangers from the $36 trillion national debt that ballooned under the Biden Administration.
“Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.”
-Robert Byrne
Mr. Trump knows dozens of nations own our treasuries in the trillions of dollars. Click on this link, http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt. It is a shocker.
Root causes
What are the root causes for America’s serious fiscal troubles?
Mr. Trump pointed out, for example, Americans have suffered by the dangerously low gross GDP as a result of dysfunctional in the Biden and Obama Administration policies.
He has singled out Republicans, too. Mr. Obama assumed office from Pres. George w. Bush with an $11 trillion national debt.
The GDP under Mr. Bush was also low compared to his predecessors, Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.
“Mr. Obama took office during a terrible financial crisis and endured a punishing recession. Unemployment peaked at 10 percent in his first term but since then, the economy has reclaimed and added 13.2 million jobs and employment is up about 10 percent,” writes Peter Morici, Ph.D.
Dr. Morici is an economist and professor emeritus at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, and five-time winner of the MarketWatch best forecaster award.
He compared the Obama record to Mr. Reagan’s.
“The Gipper faced tough times too — double-digit unemployment and interest rates, and a bruising recession. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent but subsequently the economy added more than 17.2 million jobs and employment rose about 20 percent,” he adds.
Free trade
Presidents Obama, Bush and Biden have been advocates of free-trade policies. But free trade has killed American jobs.
China, in particular, maintains higher tariffs on U.S. products than what the U.S. imposes on Chinese imports, and manipulates the yuan. That keeps Chinese products artificially cheap and U.S. products expensive in China.
“During Obama’s tenure, the trade deficit with China has increased about $100 billion, and costs American workers some 800 thousand jobs directly – and more than 1.2 million jobs counting in those lost from those workers not spending lost wages domestically,” explains Dr. Morici.
Mr. Trump has pointed out roads, bridges and other utility infrastructures are crumbling. He’s right.
Reminders are Seattle’s natural gas pipeline explosion in March 2016 and the collapsing bridges in Washington state; and hundreds of miles away, how about the water issues in Flint, Michigan?
Flint has 14 fewer manufacturing plants, in part, because now Ford has been building trucks in Mexico.
As in Michigan, in virtually in every state, there’s not enough tax revenue to fix infrastructure.
Until the Trump tax reform, companies didn’t increase wages because they’ve been selling too few products. But they’ve made profits by cutting workweeks and employee hours. Nationally, the average American workweek is only 34.2 hours.
As for the healthcare debate, ObamaCare defies logic for economic, legal and moral reasons.
Ironically, a free market – with lower premiums and better choices – would have fulfilled the original intent of the law. ObamaCare thas been the poster child for heavy-handed government dysfunction.
Then, there’s the destructive inversion crisis of big business. Mr. Trump once created jobs by incentivizing companies to stay in America, decreasing corporate tax rates, and re-building the factories.
There has been increased competition, which meant lower consumer prices until Joe Biden was elected and brought us sky-high inflation.
When family-wage jobs are created across the board, Mr. Trump knows people and government agencies will have higher much revenue. In essence, he’s pushing a nationalistic message so enough American-made products are bought by a newly patriotic American society.
Certainly, Kamala Harris doesn’t have a clue. Over the last four years, President Biden’s spending caused the inflation nightmare, and she wants to spend even more money. It’s worth remembering when Mr. Trump left office inflation was only 1.2 percent.
Certainly, there are other issues. But these are salient factors to ponder and solve.
Mr. Trump’s economic approach is closest to Mr. Reagan’s. Today, economist Art Laffer, who engineered President Reagan’s economic success, told a Fox Business audience during the Larry Kudlow program that Mr. Trump has been the best in history.
President Trump is proving we’ve needed a reincarnation of the Gipper’s policies and more.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are editor’s picks for relevant reading:
Remembering Nancy Reagan: Lesson in Fear, Negotiations and Perseverance — With the passing of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, thanks to her I have fond memories about a lesson in fear, negotiations and perseverance.
Like Nobility in the Age of Kings, Ruling Class Gets Trumped — Throughout history, there have been ruling classes in every region of the world. Noteworthy in Europe were the Dark Ages in which the ruling classes dominated ordinary, hardworking folks. That’s true for 21st century America. But like the Age of Enlightenment in the 1700s, America’s ruling class in 2016 is getting trumped by a voter revolt.
Academic Study: Rich Pay More than Their Share in Taxes — The 2016 study by the National Center for Policy Analysis reveals the current tax code is highly progressive. It’s entitled, “U.S. Inequality, Fiscal Progressivity, and Work Disincentives: An Intragenerational Accounting.”
Terror – 2 Democrat Presidents Provide Lessons for Obama — Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, both Democrats, won wide respect for their handling of monster threats to America. Plus, both presidents did not hesitate to identify the enemies, call them out on their lies, and to take decisive action. Why President Obama’s political correctness threatens America’s free-enterprise system.
Why a 1960s’ Beatles Protest Song is Still Relevant — Have you ever wondered why British groups like The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Beatles spent so much time touring abroad? To sell music for sure, but there’s another reason: Abusive taxes.
“Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.”
-Robert Byrne
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