My New The Hill Article on How Trump and Harris Cater to Political Ignorance
Today, The Hill published my article entitled “Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are Preying on Political Ignorance.” Here’s an excerpt:
There are many differences between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. But one crucial similarity is that both have proposed terrible economic policies that have political appeal because of widespread voter ignorance.
Trump has proposed both large-scale tariff increases and mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Harris’ plans include price controls and rent controls. All would cause great harm if enacted, but candidates advocate them because much of the public doesn’t understand the damage such policies bring with them.
Such misunderstandings are part of a broader problem of widespread voter ignorance about government and public policy….
Trump has proposed a 10 percent tariff on virtually all imported goods. This would predictably increase prices on a wide range of products, costing the average American family roughly $1,700 per year. The economic damage will increase if foreign governments retaliate against American exports, as they likely would. In addition, because many American industries rely on imported inputs, tariffs often destroy jobs and cause shortages…..
The harmful effects of tariffs are the subject of a broad cross-ideological consensus among economists. Yet tariffs often get support from voters if presented as a way to save American jobs….
Trump’s mass deportation plans would cause similar harm. Undocumented immigrants are important contributors to many sectors of the economy. Mass deportation would predictably create disruption, increase prices and cause shortages. Deportations also destroy more American jobs than they create… Such effects would be exacerbated by Trump’s plans to massively cut legal immigration, as well…
As with free trade, there is broad agreement among economists on the beneficial economic effects of immigration. But many voters don’t understand that…
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has tried to assuage voter concerns about high prices by promising to impose price controls to prevent “price gouging” in grocery sales. She has also endorsed President Biden’s plan to limit many housing rent increases to no more than 5 percent per year…
Price controls have a long history of causing shortages, including in the U.S. during the 1970s. When government artificially restricts prices, producers have less incentive to increase supplies in response to increasing demand. The same is true of rent control, which numerous studies consistently show exacerbates housing shortages.
Economists across the political spectrum agree here, too. Jason Furman, chair of Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, notes that “[r]ent control has been about as disgraced as any economic policy.” Nonetheless, polls indicate that both rent control and price controls more generally are often popular with voters. That is partly because a ma
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