Lately, Donald Trump has been accusing Hillary Clinton of being “stuck in the past.” This assertion is highly ironic, coming from a mercantilist! Via Tyler Cowen, quoting Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser Peter Navarro, here is the essence of Mr Trump’s economic policy (in 17 words):
Trump proposes eliminating America’s $500 billion trade deficit through a combination of increased exports and reduced imports.
In other words, Mssrs Trump and Navarro are mercantilists. Someone needs to remind them that we’re in the 21st Century now and that mercantilism was soundly discredited by Adam Smith in 1776. Although Professor Navarro received his PhD in economics from Harvard, while Trump has a degree in finance from Wharton, they must have a missed a few of their classes. (FYI, here is a profile of Peter Navarro.)
Credit: T. J. Joseph
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