Posted on 04/22/2016 6:33:08 PM PDT by GIdget2004
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump this week walked back his assertion that he could eliminate the country's debt after two terms as president.
In an interview with Fortune Magazine published Friday, Trump was asked how his pledge to pay off the $19 trillion debt in 10 years was possible.  "No, I didnt say 10 years," Trump responded. "First of all, with low interest rates, you can think in terms of refinancings, and get it down. I believe you can do certain things to pay off the debt more quickly. The most important thing is to make sure the economy stays strong. You can do it in smaller chunks. You can do it in larger chunks. And you can do it in refinancings."
Trump had, in fact, told The Washington Post editorial board earlier this month that he would pay off the debt in eight years by renegotiating trade deals. The Post called that claim "nonsensical."
His plan was also derided by budget hawks, who called it ridiculous.
Trump added in the Fortune interview that he now wants to pay off a "percentage" of it, but he hasn't decided what that figure would be.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Right there, in a nutshell is the whole Trump campaign strategy. Problem is, he's limited to 3 syllable words.
Yes indeed, it's like the prize in a box of CrackerJack...you never know what you'll get.
Unless they have repealed the law of supply & demand, the wholesale price of imported goods will drop until people can afford them with the tariffs applied.
So it won’t cause retail price increases, and it will actually be a hit to the foreign producers’ pockets and not American consumers. Either that, or they go out of business and American companies have to make our stuff again.
Smoot-Hawley tariff rates were 60%, not 20%. China has 100% tariffs on some American imports. We currently have a 266% tariff on Chinese steel. Do you think these are responsible for the current Recession ?
There are also many economists that do not consider Smoot-Hawley to blame for the Depression.
[Alfred E. Eckes argues that Smoot-Hawley had little effect on the severity of the Great Depression,[6] as does Douglas A. Irwin in The Review of Economics and Statistics, “Smoot-Hawley ... probably did not contribute significantly to the economic downturn.”.[7]] — Wikipedia entry on Smoot-Hawley
This has just become a scape-goat pushed forward by misguided free-traders like you. So-called “free trade”, where we remove tariffs and duties while our trading partners slap our goods with high duties and VATs has resulted in entire industries being lost.
We have been in a trade cold war for 40+ years and our policy of unilateral disarmament has been a dismal failure. We buy cheaply made imported junk using borrowed money handed out as welfare to jobless Americans that used to be the most productive manufacturing workforce in the world.
If it were me, I’d put whatever tariff it took on imported TVs until America had a TV industry again. Same with steel and aluminum. Same with electronics components. Same with textiles. Same with computer chips. I consider all of these to be issues of national security and products we CANNOT be dependent on outside producers for.
Donald Trump: the instant take back candidate, just add office.
That is Milton Friedman's opinion Not everyone agrees that Smoot was the reason, after all the Country managed practically on import duties alone.
8 years is simply too short of a time to pay that much money back.
Not everything you consume is imported. Tariffs are voluntary. Prices would come down as more domestic sources come on line. More tariffs less income taxes are what we need.
What drop?
Amazing.... I have been told numerous times by Trump supporters Trump has never walked back or clarified his statements because the media always misrepresented what he says....
Granted, I approve of his idea, but it would be nice if he just simply told the truth on the matter instead of making outrageous claims....
They can't really do anymore than they are doing already. Every nation on earth is charging us a tariffs on our exports. How economically naive are you?
Do you think gm or ford would keep their prices the same? Nope their prices would go up 20% the next day...
They could but they won't because their is still domestic and production and competition. Did you forget about that?
You either start protectionism now our gird for Civil War. Your pick.
Read contemporary accounts and histories of the Great Depression written by the people that actually lived through it and they tell us what really caused the GD and it wasn't an obscure trade act that affected just 4% of the economy. SmootHawley is a contemporaneity rewrite of history to fit the Free Traitor religious dogma.
Learn more here: Protectionism Didn't Cause the Great Depression
There is in reality little that he (or Cruz) wouldn’t capitulate on to re: the GOPe/Dem/industrial complex once in office. And the 8-year payoff would have been excessive.
But Trump and Cruz are by far still the two best options we have.
The economic Boom Bust cycles of which the Great Depression was one were caused by the Central Bank. Which is why Jackson fought them for most of his Presidency to eliminate. We had a stable prosperous economy for a long time after that until the PRIVATE Federal reserve was created (Central bank 2). Look at what laws were put in place to prevent another occurrence of the great depression such as Glass Seagall Act that Clinton repealed leading to the bust we had back then.
The flaw in your argument is the assumption the pie does not grow. Some of the growth will be collecting the money owed for the protection we have done with our allies, More from fair trade, more from increased manufacturing, etc. The Pie will not stay the same size...
Yep - matters not to his detractors - they need every manufactured bit they can come up with.
You can bet the house on that.
King Trumpy thinks 19 Trillion of National Debt is like your 30 year mortgage.
One way, Make it worthwhile to buy US Treasuries again. Would you move money to invest in US Obligations if the country looked to be stable and the obligations are paying 2 percent over base ROI for low risk? You bet your ass I would.
Trump is a runaway train on promises. I can promise you.
A turn around manager does not harm himself by firing the entire staff of a poor performing business unless he has a replacement staff ready to take over. That’s not possible with the US govt when Trump first assumes the executive power. What likely will happen is Trump will replace key positions with his own people who will be tasked with fixing their organizations.
Another factor people seem to forget is in DC its about getting others to do what you want, there are many tools for that. Example, what do the democrats have on Roberts to make him side with them on Constitution killing rulings? Trump will have access to that information aka the leverage they use. So, yes he will be able to deal, from a position of strength.
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