Trump Tariffs Are Bad For Economy
By Rocco J. Polidoro
An economics professor at Temple University in the late 1970s taught us that the Economy is relative to each person differently. He said if your neighbor is unemployed and struggling then that’s a Recession. But if you are unemployed and struggling then that’s a Depression. Trump supporters are over-looking his divisiveness and his polarization in our Country by focusing on just the Economy. They say the Economy is doing great, so they are all looking the other way. But is the Economy really doing great ? The stock market is doing well and its been doing well for almost the past 9 years. However if you are not invested in the stock market, are you doing well ? And yes the unemployment rate is low but if you are unemployed, retired or disabled, is that low rate helping you ?
Trump supporters think that the lower tax rates are helping every one. Economist estimate that the average worker is saving about $1200 a year under the new tax law. But here’s the rest of the story. According to a Bank of America economist, gas & oil prices are up about 30% this year. And that is eating up about 25% of those tax savings. The Trump tariff war is driving up costs on many products for Americans such as cars, motorcycles, washing machines and other appliances. And these product increases are eating up some of the tax savings too. An economist at Forbes said that with the deregulation of banking rules, interest rates on mortgages, car loans, equity loans and credit cards are rising and these increases will be eating up some of those tax savings.
And its no surprise that deregulations in the financial industry are driving up costs for Americans. The financial industry donated a lot of money to Trump and republican lawmakers, and we now have to pay for that. So when this year is finally over, some economist believe that we will probably be paying more in these added costs than what we were saving with the tax rate reductions.
Finally the US Bureau of Economic Analysis recently reported that the US trade deficit increased by another $22 Billion, a 7% increase in August alone. The Trump tariff war is actually making the trade deficit worse. And this will mean that American farmers and factory workers will see reductions in their productivity as time goes on. So when Trump supporters say that the Economy is doing well, its a smoke screen and not a complete picture of the whole Economy.
Mr. Polidoro is a resident of Springfield
Trump Tariffs Are Bad For Economy
