The One Thing Donald Trump is Right About: Foreign Trade & Economic Theory

Donald Trump is a buffoon, a narcissist, an egomaniac, and he has brought the boastful, childish culture of reality television to presidential elections. Nevertheless, there is one thing on which he is absolutely right, and most of his rivals are wrong: economic policy and foreign trade. In general, his rivals simply don’t understand the economics. Let me explain.

The U.S. Economy in the 21st Century: A Disastrous Performance

I’ve grown used to hearing Silicon Valley venture capitalists—and some tech CEOs—talk about how U.S. economic statistics don’t reflect the benefits the technology industry delivers to the U.S. economy.  It’s true that the tech industry creates jobs, income, and wealth for millions of Americans. Yet at the same time, the rise of tech has coincided with terrible underperformance of the U.S. economy as a whole.  So when I saw a senior executive at New York financial firm BlackRock joining the chorus trying to deny U.S. macroeconomic reality, I decided to gather the relevant statistics in one place to demonstrate just how bad U.S. economic performance is.