Dec. 19, 2024, 12:30 PM PT
To the editor: I find myself challenging Jonah Goldberg’s view on presidential impact on the U.S. economy. His analysis seems to overlook the fact that economic policies often take a considerable time to fully manifest their effects.
Take, for instance, the transition from Clinton to George W. Bush. Clinton left office having revitalized the economy, only for Bush to depart with it spiraling downward. Obama entered the scene and worked to pull things back on track—his bailout of General Motors is a case in point. At that time, Republican leaders were hesitant to support investment in banks. Ultimately, Obama passed on a robust economy to Trump.
However, Trump then left Biden with economic conditions and policies that were ripe for inflation. Throughout Trump’s first term, the cornerstone was tax cuts heavily favoring the wealthy, even as he tossed around ideas about infrastructure investment and healthcare reform. Yet, these ideas never really took shape beyond concepts.
The impact of Republican policies has been a widening gap in income equality, which has been particularly painful for the middle class. The new administration is contemplating reducing safeguards by agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Should this happen, it could lead to even more disparity and difficulty for the middle class.
Wayne Morgan, Ventura
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To the editor: Trump’s incoming administration’s interest in cryptocurrencies will undoubtedly challenge Goldberg’s claim about the limited influence of presidents on the economy. It brings back memories of the 2007-2008 financial collapse, fueled in part by unconventional investments.
Alan Coles, Long Beach
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To the editor: Back in 2004, Donald Trump himself remarked that the economy tends to do better under Democratic leadership.
In the historical “good old days,” our country was split between the very wealthy and the very poor. That was until Franklin Delano Roosevelt came along and established the middle class, creating a foundational pillar of our economy for decades. Since then, Republicans have seemed determined to revert to those earlier times, offering tax cuts that benefit the rich, while Trump proposed tariffs that effectively increased the tax burden on the middle class.
The idea of going “back to the future” isn’t something Americans are eager to embrace.
Anastacio Vigil, Santa Monica
