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The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Donald Trump has promised that the 2024 presidential election will bring “a brand new Trump economic boom” if he wins or a “1929-style depression” if he loses.
In an hour-long speech focused on the economy in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump promised to bring down the price of cars, housing, insurance and prescription drugs — and bashed the Biden administration for overseeing a rise in consumer prices.
“Does anyone here feel richer under Kamala Harris and crooked Joe than you were during the Trump administration,” the Republican presidential candidate asked.
“If Harris wins this election, the result will be a Kamala economic crash, a 1929-style depression . . . When I win the election, we will immediately begin a brand-new Trump economic boom,” he added.
Trump promised to continue his 2017 tax cuts and vowed the US would “pay off our debt”.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has said that Trump’s proposal to extend the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act would add $5tn to deficits through 2035.
Behind the former president was a sign saying “no tax on Social Security” and “no tax on tips”.
The CRFB has said that cutting taxes on Social Security benefits would add another $1.6tn to the deficit, while cutting taxes on tips would add up to another $250bn.
“Our current massive deficits will be reduced to practically nothing,” Trump vowed. “Our country will be powered by growth.”
“They say it’s the most important subject. I’m not sure it is,” he added of the economy, before switching to attack Harris’s running mate Tim Walz for making tampons free in public school bathrooms. “He wants tampons in boys’ bathrooms,” Trump told the audience.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has gained ground with voters over her ability to manage economic issues.
The most recent FT-Michigan Ross poll found that 42 per cent of voters trusted her on the economy, compared with 41 per cent who preferred Trump — a 7 percentage point improvement for the vice-president compared to Joe Biden’s numbers as Democratic candidate last month.
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In other positive news for Harris, data published on Wednesday showed that US inflation fell to 2.9 per cent in July, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September.
Harris on Friday plans to deliver an economy-focused speech in North Carolina, setting out her policies ahead of the Democratic National Convention next week.
She has recently embraced a version of Trump’s proposal to lower taxes on tips, prompting the former president to say that Harris’s economic vision “probably will be a copy of my plan”.
“She’s waiting for me to announce it so she can copy it,” he added.
