Less than two weeks to November 5th, our national Election Day. It appears younger voters don’t care whether Trump’s former staff believe Trump is a dictator (in waiting). Most younger voters were too young to be impacted by Trump’s first term. And even though under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39%, reached $27.75 trillion by the end of his term, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio also hit a post-World War II high, young voters believe Trump will handle the economy better.
Trump’s economic numbers exposed a far more complicated reality. His tax cuts never delivered promised growth, budget deficits surged (and stayed relatively high under Biden), and tariffs and trade deals never brought back lost factory jobs. Both Trump and Biden suffered from COVID’s pandemic lockdown. The borrowing both presidents leveraged enabled the government to make direct payments to citizens and small businesses during the lockdown. These increased payments provided temporary feelings of being better off despite a recession.
Questions we should have asked.