CNN
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More than half of the living U.S. Nobel Prize winners in economics have signed a letter calling Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic policies “far superior” to the plans laid out by former President Donald Trump.
Twenty-three Nobel Prize-winning economists signed the letter, including two of the three most recent laureates.
“While each of us has different views on the details of various economic policies, overall, Harris’ economic policies will improve our nation’s health, investment, sustainability, resilience, job opportunities, and equity; “We believe that Donald Trump’s economic policies are far better than anything counterproductive,” the economists said in a letter obtained by CNN.
The letter is a stamp of approval for Harris with less than two weeks until Election Day on the economy, the issue that voters consistently rank most important in polls. Voters are struggling with a weak overall outlook on inflation and the overall state of the U.S. economy, and incumbent President Joe Biden has struggled to emphasize his administration’s economic policies for months before leaving office. It has long served as a clear vulnerability for Democratic candidates in the race. Mr. Harris rallied the support of his party to become the party’s nominee.
The letter marks the second major foray into the campaign by a group of Nobel laureates, led by Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz, who won the prize in 2001.
Stiglitz also led an effort by signatories in June, along with 15 other Nobel laureates, to highlight the “destabilizing effects” of Trump’s second term on the U.S. economy. At the time, the group also said then-candidate Biden’s economic policies were “very good.”
President Trump rejected the group’s letter at the time, and his campaign denounced the signatories as “worthless, worthless” economists.
But the new letter, which began to be put together after Harris detailed her economic vision late last month, includes seven new signatories, and includes points of expertise and approaches to economics. represents a wide range of fields in this field.
The expanded group includes two of the three recent winners, Simon Johnson and Daron Acemoglu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They won the award last week, along with James Robinson of the University of Chicago, for their work on how the institutions that make countries wealthy and prosperous are formed.
The letter was intentionally kept short at just 228 words, according to people familiar with the process, both in an effort to secure consensus among a wide range of economists and a desire to refine that consensus. It is said that it is reflected. This letter was drafted to incorporate feedback from the initial effort.
It was also an effort to heighten what officials saw as the serious risks posed by President Trump’s economic proposals, but also in an effort to raise what they saw as the serious risks posed by President Trump’s economic proposals. It also signaled efforts in the final days of the election campaign to avoid potential instability. And stability is most important.
The letter notes that President Trump’s tariff and tax policies could lead to inflation and increase the federal deficit, a view widely held among economists. But it also comes with a stark warning.
“Among the most important determinants of economic success are the rule of law and economic and political certainty, and Trump threatens all of these,” the economists wrote.
Despite warnings and predictions from economists across the political spectrum, President Trump has stuck to his promise to use the threat of significant tariffs as a cornerstone of his economic policy.
President Trump said in a recent interview with Bloomberg at the Chicago Economic Club that his tariff plan “will have a tremendous impact, a positive impact.”
“The most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff,” President Trump said. “That’s my favorite word.”
President Trump has promised broader tax cuts that go beyond the 2017 tax law and promised to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits, but analysts say these taxes will cost trillions of dollars. They all point to tariffs and economic growth as a way to make up for economic losses. Revenue.
Economists view tariffs as effectively taxes on consumers who buy imported goods.
He has promised massive deregulation, part of which will be a surge in oil and gas drilling. He also promised to deport all illegal immigrants in the United States in the “largest deportation operation” in American history.
Mr. Trump has long held an advantage in terms of which candidate voters think is best able to handle the economy as voters grapple with widespread dissatisfaction with the state and direction of the U.S. economy.
Mr. Trump and his allies have sought to tout that advantage in their campaigns and ads, with a particular focus on the high prices that have weighed down American consumers in recent years.
But polls show that Harris has been steadily chipping away at Trump’s lead on the issue in recent weeks, and Harris’ campaign advisers have warned Trump of Trump’s strength on the issue in the final stages of the campaign. I think there is room for improvement.
Those efforts have been helped by a steady stream of economic data that has boosted confidence among U.S. economic policymakers that they have succeeded in controlling inflation without sending the entire economy into recession.
The Fed has started cutting interest rates. The September employment report showed increased employment, a decline in the unemployment rate and strong wage growth.
Retail sales also remain strong.
Economic conditions look solid, at least based on macroeconomic data.
As part of her economic policy, Ms. Harris moved to address voters’ concerns about prices, housing and childcare costs, pushing for tax cuts for middle- and low-income Americans.
He also signaled support for Biden’s industrial policies to strengthen America’s critical manufacturing industries.
The contrast between the two candidates on the economy is central to the messages both campaigns are pushing in the final days of the campaign.
For the letter’s signatories, Harris’ message is a clear favorite.
“Simply put, Ms. Harris’ policies will result in improved economic performance, and economic growth will be stronger, more sustainable, and more equitable,” the economists wrote.
