As the 2016 presidential election approaches voting day, it proves to consistently hold new surprises that astound analysts and experts everywhere. This election, no matter what the outcome, will be one of the most historic and eccentric elections to date. The most aggressive and unexpected candidate is Donald Trump, a man who has mercilessly paved his own path towards his goal of becoming the next president of the United States of America while shamelessly mud-slinging all other candidates involved. His bold, assailing statements and radical proposals have proven to be successful, however, as he leads in the race for republican nomination and has become the talk of the nation. Trump is distinguished from the other candidates as he is a business man first, politician second. This means his policies are more economically oriented, much of them focused on decreasing the enormous financial debt incurred on the country and balancing the budget. His controversial policies have caused both protests and celebrations across the country.
In order to decrease government debt, the amount of income received by the government would have to be increased which would allow for the money to be allotted to pay back the debt. The majority of government income comes from taxes, which come in many forms such as estate taxes, income taxes, sales tax and more. If government spending remains constant, then any increase in taxes would allow for a decrease in debt. A priority of Trump’s is balancing the budget and decreasing the major deficit faced by our country. Therefore, unlike the characteristic inclination to reduce taxes that traditional Republicans hold, Trump has decided to take a unique course by balancing both a reduction and increase in taxes.
To fulfill his promises of reducing national debt, Trump’s policies include a total tax reform. This tax reform simplifies the tax code, and reduces taxes for those with low income. In addition, income taxes on all businesses are reduced. This is balanced by increasing taxes for the rich. To provide a profit on taxes that can decrease the debt, Trump’s plan includes removing loopholes that allow American businesses that are based in foreign countries to pay lower taxes. Taking it even further, the policy greatly increases tariffs on these companies, that he hopes will cause them to move their factories back to the US, which would also increase jobs. Through these tax policies, this business man turned politician hopes to fix the financial state of this country.
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Yet, a simple tax reform that doesn’t exactly match the Republican ideal is not what has the country completely astonished by Donald Trump. Some of his policies are so controversial, that many have protested and even tried to get him disqualified as they are borderline unconstitutional. Trump has proposed to build a wall along the border between the US and Mexico, an idea that has been disputed many times over and has led some to consider Trump a racist. So how would the wall that blocks immigrants from entering a country founded by immigrants affect the economy of the US? The actual cost of this thousand mile wall is estimated to be over double Trump’s estimate, around $25 billion. Supposing that Trump manages to use his threats to coerce Mexico into paying for the wall, the repercussions will still harm the economic state of the US. By building this wall, Trump will jeopardize relations with Mexico.
Trade with Mexico alone amounts to over one billion dollars and accounts for six million US jobs. In fact, over twenty percent of US jobs are related to trade along the border. Forcing Mexico to pay for the wall, which Mexican officials have refused to do, would certainly ruin trade with Mexico and cause an incredible spike in unemployment. This would cause a deepening in the recession, as consumer spending would decrease and businesses would start shutting down. Productivity would lessen and inflation would fall. The effects don’t stop there. The amount of money required to deport millions of undocumented aliens is enormous and would increase the national debt and reduce real GDP. Trump’s wall is a crude fix and the impact it will have on the US economy has clearly not been thought out by his policy makers.
As you can see, Donald Trump’s policies range from direct and simple to controversial and unbelievable. These policies could have both positive and negative effects on the US economy. The tax reform will certainly benefit those who make less wages and decreasing the national debt will help the country for years to come. His proposal to block out Mexico with a wall however, has mostly negative consequences and should be reviewed before being put into action. No matter what is thought of Donald Trump and his radical policies, none can deny that his assertive, powerful nature has intrigued the nation.
