The Economist: on Budget & Economy


Pat Buchanan: Interventionist in US economy; isolationist abroad

Buchanan wants the government to intervene in the economy to save American jobs. He heaps scorn on free trade and foreigners alike. He wants to withdraw American troops from more or less everywhere. And if the Chinese do not do what he wants, they will have sold "their last pair of chopsticks in the US." Buchanan embodies a reactionary conservatism which thinks that "America First" can be achieved by shoving everyone else to the back.
Source: The Economist, p. 34 Sep 18, 1999

Kamala Harris: Lower cost plan: housing; groceries; medical; and taxes

It is easy enough to understand what is motivating Kamala Harris's economic strategy: Poll after poll demonstrates that many Americans consider the cost of living to be their main concern heading into the election in November, during a time when inflation soared to a four-decade high. Rather than gloss over this ugly reality, she is trying to confront it. "Lower costs for American families" is the centrepiece of her economic agenda.

But just because her strategy is understandable does not make it sensible. Her prescriptions risk taking America further down the road of self-defeating economic policies. Ms Harris's cost-of-living plan may open a new phase in the worrying odyssey. She takes aim at four categories of costs: housing; groceries; medical; and taxes. Although some of her ideas are good and helpful, many more would end up weighing on growth and driving up prices--the exact opposite of their intended effect.

Source: The Economist on 2024 Presidential hopefuls Aug 21, 2024

Kamala Harris: FactCheck: no evidence for pandemic price-gouging

Ms Harris wants to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries. This may not herald a return to the price controls witnessed under President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, but the intellectual underpinning for such a policy is nonetheless half-baked. A common charge of the left-wing is that companies fuelled inflation during the covid-19 pandemic by taking advantage of shortages to jack up prices--but there was no evidence of higher mark-ups at the aggregate level.

Although Ms Harris's promise to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions in the food industry that lead to less competition and higher prices is unobjectionable, in reality it is little more than a restatement of America's existing anti-monopoly policy. The Federal Trade Commission is, for instance, currently embroiled in a legal battle to block the biggest supermarket merger in American history.

Source: The Economist on 2024 Presidential hopefuls Aug 21, 2024

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2024 Presidential contenders on Budget & Economy:
  Candidates for President & Vice-President:
V.P.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.(I-CA)
Chase Oliver(L-GA)
Dr.Jill Stein(D-MA)
Former Pres.Donald Trump(R-FL)
Sen.J.D.Vance(R-OH)
Gov.Tim Walz(D-MN)
Dr.Cornel West(I-NJ)

2024 presidential primary contenders:
Pres.Joe_Biden(D-DE)
N.D.Gov.Doug Burgum(R)
N.J.Gov.Chris_Christie(R)
Fla.Gov.Ron_DeSantis(R)
S.C.Gov.Nikki_Haley(R)
Ark.Gov.Asa_Hutchinson(R)
Former V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
U.S.Rep.Dean_Phillips(D-MN)
Vivek_Ramaswamy(R-OH)
S.C.Sen.Tim_Scott(R)
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Page last updated: Sep 29, 2024