Dream or Delusion?
The Promises and Pitfalls of Trumpenomics

Jay K. RosengardHarvard Kennedy School

Key Questions to Ponder
The Promises• What is the Trumpenomics dream?
• What is Trumpenomics?
The Pitfalls• What is the Trumpenomics delusion?
• What are consequences of Trumpenomics?
• What is the current state of the U.S. economy?
• What is the current state of U.S. politics?
The Verdict• What are the two mostly likely scenarios?
• Which Trump will prevail?
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What is the Trumpenomics Dream?
• Generate annual growth rate of 3.5% - 4.0%
• Create 25 million new jobs over 10 years• Bring back lost manufacturing jobs
• Revive coal industry• Generate trade surplus• Make America Great Again….
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What is Trumpenomics?
Lower Taxes• Reduce individual income tax from 7 to 3 tax
brackets with tax rates of 12%, 25%, & 33%• Reduce corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%• Reduce corporate tax on repatriation to 10%• Repeal estate and gift taxes
Increase Expenditures• National defense (e.g., 350-vessel navy fleet)• Border security (e.g., “The Wall”)• Domestic infrastructure (e.g., $1 trillion PPP)
Deregulate Business• Complete regulatory overhaul• Moratorium on new federal regulations
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What is Trumpenomics? (2)America-First Trade Policy• No Trans-Pacific Partnership• Re-negotiate NAFTA• China currency manipulator, subject of trade cases
Unleash American Energy• Attain energy independence• Increase coal production and hydraulic fracturing• Increase energy production on federal lands
Penny Plan
• Reduce non-defense, non-safety net spending
annually by 1% of the previous year’s total• Total reduction $1 trillion over ten years
 Reaganomics Redux….
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What is the Trumpenomics Delusion?
• Likely Impact of Trumpenomics if Implemented– No strong association between tax rates and economic
growth in the United States (Reagan, Bush, Clinton)– What is good for Wall Street is not necessarily good forMain Street (trickle-down economics vs. inclusive
growth; time frame and distributional concerns)– Unintended consequences (current state of US
economy; fiscal and monetary implications; Fed policy)• Likelihood of Implementing Trumpenomics– Political economy of reform (current state of US politics)– Ambiguity of mandate (mixed election signals)– Schizophrenic leadership (savior vs. deal maker)
6What are the Consequences of Trumpenomics?
Lower Taxes• Tax cuts increase budget deficit by $7.2 trillion andraise federal debt to GDP by 26.2% over 10 years• Half the benefits in reduced tax liabilities to top 1%
Increase Expenditures• Defense and veterans up $950 b over 10 years• Higher education/childcare up $600 b over 10 years• Security/infrastructure costs unclear
Deregulate Business• Decreased competition and monopoly rents• Social and environmental costs
7Consequences of Trumpenomics?(2)America-First Trade Policy• Retaliation, trade war• WTO challenges• Increased trade deficits
Unleash American Energy• Environmental damage• Non-competitive renewables• Higher long-term vulnerability
Penny Plan
• Discretionary spending effectively 10% of budget• Congressional gridlock
8What is the Current State of the U.S. Economy?
First, the good news: strong aggregate performance• Budget deficit/GDP (2017 est.): 2.6% (9.8% in 2009)• Fed. debt/GDP (2017 est.): 104.4% (105.2% in 2016)• Unemployment Rate (12/16): 4.7% (9.9% in 2009)• Net Jobs Created (2016): +2.2 m (180,000/month)(-5.1m, -423,000/month in 2009)• Positive Net Jobs Created 75 consecutive months• Hourly Pay (2016): +2.9% (best since 2009)• 19 states increased minimum wage (eff. 1/17)• Urban CPI thru 12/16: 2.1% (0.7% in 2015)9

Current State of the U.S. Economy? (2)10Current State of the U.S. Economy? (3)Now, the bad news: structural inequality (12/16)• Standard aggregated unemployment: 4.7%, 7.5 m• Long-term unemployment: 1.8 m, 24.2% of unemployed• Unemployment by race
- Whites: 4.3%
- Hispanics: 5.9%
- Asians: 2.6%

- Blacks: 7.8%

• Unemployment by education- < High school: 7.9%
- Some college: 3.8%
- High school: 5.1%
- ≥ Bachelor’s: 2.5%
- Continued decline in factory jobs: -63,000 (since January 2016)• Unemployment more broadly defined– With involuntary part-time: -459,000 in 2016, 5.6m  8.2%
– With marginally attached: 1.7m  9.3%

11Current State of the U.S. Economy? (4)12Current State of the U.S. Economy? (5)13Current State of the U.S. Economy? (6)14Current State of the U.S. Economy? (7)15Current State of the U.S. Economy? (8)16What is the Current State of the U.S. Politics?
• Executive Branch: Republicans (Trump)• Legislative Branch: Republicans (both houses of Congress)– Senate: 52-48 (Democrats +2, need 3 more)– House of Reps: 241-194 (Democrats +6, need 24 more)• Judicial Branch: Appointments by Republicans– 1 Supreme Court vacancy: swing vote
– Maybe additional Supreme Court vacancies• Election results– Popular vote (136.6 m total): Clinton 65.8 m (48.2%); Trump 63.0m (46.1%)  Clinton +2.8 m (2.1%)– Electoral vote (270/538 to win): Clinton 232 (43.1%); Trump 306(56.9%)  Trump +74 (13.8%)– Voter Turnout: VEP 60.0%  Trump 27.2% of VEP (1.5)– FBI investigations, Russia hacking/disinformation
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Current State of the U.S. Politics? (2)• Trump transition– Historically low approval at 44% vs. Obama (83%),
George W. Bush (61%), Clinton (68%)– Polarizing cabinet nominees• Steven Mnuchin/Treasury, Wilbur Ross/Commerce, Mick
Mulvaney/OMB, Gary Cohn/NEC• Rex Tillerson/State, James Mattis/Defense, Jeff Sessions/Justice• Rick Perry/Energy, Andy Puzder/Labor, Betsy DeVos/Education,
Tom Price/HHS, Ben Carson/HUD, Scott Pruitt/EPA)– Divisions within Republican Party18

Two Most Likely Scenarios• Scenario I: Trumpenomics implemented– Economy gets short-term modest boost of inequitableand unsustainable growth– Primarily benefits the wealthy and big business while
hurting the middle class and low income households,
increasing inequality of income, wealth, and opportunity– Dollar appreciates, trade imbalance grows, inflation
increases, Fed raises interest rates, economy slows down

• Scenario II: Trumpenomics not implemented– Blocked by Congress, courts, bureaucracy– Political gridlock until 2018 mid-term elections– Status quo or calamity
19Which Trump Will Prevail?
• Trump the businessman– Transactional focus on making deals with stakeholders– Pragmatism > ideology, evidence-based policies– Economic agenda > social and security agendas• Trump the campaigner– Transformational focus on motivating political base
– Ideology > pragmatism, faith-based policies– Social and security agendas > economic agenda• Governing style– Spontaneity vs. Uncertainty– Passion vs. Impulse– Leadership vs. Narcissism
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OR A DELUSION?

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