And on the trail, Harris and former President Donald Trump have highlighted their different approaches if elected in November.
Laura Barron-Lopez, always good to have you here.
So let’s start with Vice President Harris then.
And if you’re a high-income household, a high net worth household, you will certainly do better under President Trump.
But I think if you’re kind of a middle-income American, you’re a lower-income American, you will do better under President Harris.
Laura Barron-Lopez: One of the similarities, Mark Zandi said, is that proposal to eliminate taxes on tips that both have said they want to do.
And, overall, the attitudes of the two candidates are very different on the economy, Amna, Trump’s campaign arguing that his is about a less globalized approach and that he wants to promote investment.
Laura Barron-Lopez: One of the proposals that multiple economists raise was Trump’s plan for mass deportations of millions of undocumented migrants.
Laura Barron-Lopez: Strain said ultimately the way to fix the housing crisis is to build more homes.
Laura Barron-Lopez: This is consistently, as you said, Amna, the top issue for voters across the spectrum.
The Amna Nawaz.
Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled additional of her economic proposals today in New Hampshire, including a change to the capital gains tax and tax breaks for start-up small businesses.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic Vice President of the United States and U. s. Presidential Candidate: Under my plan, if you make a million dollars or more a year, the tax rate on your long-term capital gains will be 28 percent. This is because, as we all know, when the government promotes investment, it generates jobs and broadens the economy.
Amna Nawaz.
Now, compared to what President Biden has demanded in his most recent budget proposal, that is a lesser increase in the investment income tax.
Two of the voters’ top concerns are the economy and inflation. Additionally, while campaigning, Harris and former President Donald Trump have emphasized the ways in which they would handle winning in November.
Now joining us is our White House correspondent, who has been reporting on the plans of both candidates.
It’s nice to have you here again, Laura Barron-Lopez.
Now, let’s begin with Vice President Harris. Just go over the main ideas of her economic plans that she claims will result in lower costs for regular Americans.
The Laura Barron-Lopez.
Thus, she announced today that she wants to implement a $50,000 tax deduction for small businesses in addition to the capital gains tax that she proposed. For startups, the tax break was $5,000; this is an increase.
In addition, if she were elected, she would like to see 25 million new business applications during her term. Furthermore, this expands upon other significant economic proposals that she previously unveiled as early as last month. These include the development of three million new housing units, $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, and a federal prohibition on price gouging on groceries and food.
In addition, she favors increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Amna, she also thinks that the child tax credit should be permanently increased to $6,000 for middle-class and lower-class families during the first year of the child’s life. In addition, she has fulfilled President Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on individuals earning less than $400,000.
In the end, then, many of her recommendations are fairly similar to those of President Biden.
Laura Barron-Lopez:.
Though Donald Trump has stated that he intends to address inflation right away, economic policy is not always a part of his stump speeches.
Former Republican president of the United States and current U.S. s. Presidential Candidate: I will sign an executive order instructing each Cabinet secretary and agency head to use all available resources to combat inflation and quickly lower consumer prices on my first day back in the Oval Office.
Raising the standard of living and bringing back affordability to American life will require a full-scale government effort.
The Laura Barron-Lopez.
Here is what is known about Donald Trump’s economic policies, although he hasn’t given many details about how he would reduce inflation.
He declared his intention to reduce corporate taxes from 21 percent to 15 percent, do away with the tip and Social Security benefit taxes, and impose 10 to 20 percent tariffs on all imports from abroad, with a special emphasis on Chinese goods, levies of sixty percent. Additionally, Amna, he wants to extend the tax cuts from 2017.
The tax cuts enacted in 2017—which saw the corporate rate reduced to 20 percent and the individual tax rate reduced to 21 percent—are set to expire the following year and he wants to make them permanent for all earners, particularly the highest earners.
The Laura Barron-Lopez.
Their proposals regarding housing, taxes, tariffs, and mass deportations of migrants differ greatly in terms of how they will affect the economy.
Along with my producer Shrai Popat, I had conversations with several economists, including Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi. Zandi also made a joke about how you can put ten economists in a room and they will all have different opinions, but overall, he quoted sixteen economists who have won Nobel Prizes warning that Trump’s policies would raise inflation. That’s also what Moody’s discovered.
Mark Zandi is Moody’s Analytics’ chief economist.
I believe that under President Trump’s policies, there would be slower economic growth, somewhat higher unemployment, higher inflation, and ultimately higher deficits and debt—not a recession, but a diminished economy nonetheless.
And under President Trump, you will undoubtedly succeed if your household has a high net worth or high income. However, I believe that Americans who are lower-class or somewhat middle-class will fare better under President Harris.
The Laura Barron-Lopez.
Mark Zandi noted that the proposal to do away with tip taxes is one of the commonalities between the two. However, many economists argue that those who are compelled to rely on tips for their livelihoods already pay relatively little in taxes. They thus doubt the effect.
Furthermore, the two candidates’ views on the economy generally diverge greatly, with Trump’s campaign claiming that it favors investment and a less globalized approach. Harris is far more interested in the middle class—parents in particular and housing in particular.
Barron-Lopez Laura:.
The plan put forth by Trump to deport millions of undocumented immigrants in large numbers was one of the suggestions brought up by several economists.
J. B. His running partner Vance has stated that plan is their housing plan and that, in the end, U. S. People are battling with the U.S. government for housing. s. migrants and that housing costs might decrease if millions of migrants were deported.
That plan would be bad for the economy, according to economist Michael Strain of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, with whom we spoke.
American Enterprise Institute, Michael Strain:.
Removing hundreds of thousands, if not more, of undocumented workers from the workforce would be the result of that. The price of fresh produce increases as soon as you enter the supermarket.
The cost of booking a hotel room would increase. Both the cost of a restaurant meal and possibly the cost of building a new home would increase.
Laura Barron-Lopez:.
According to Strain, increasing the number of dwellings built will ultimately solve the housing crisis.
In addition, Amna, the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model examined the policies put forth by both candidates and discovered that, over a ten-year period, Trump’s plans would add more than $5 trillion to the national debt. Harris’ plan, in contrast, would increase spending by more than $1 trillion in the same time span.
Barron-Lopez Laura:.
As you noted, Amna, this is consistently the top concern for voters of all stripes. The cost of living and inflation are Gen Z voters’ top concerns, according to a recent NBC poll conducted among people aged 18 to 29.
We also had conversations with several voters in states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. In addition to not liking Trump’s tariff proposal, Robert Nix (ph), a Trump supporter in both 2016 and 2020, claimed that he believes Trump just says what the public wants to hear.
Additionally, we spoke with Ethan Lentz (ph), who voted for Trump in 2020 but is now disappointed with him. He expressed doubts about Harris’ price gouging and said he doesn’t particularly like either candidate’s policies, believing Trump’s to be overly ambiguous.
