US Presidential Election 2024: What is Harris’ economic plan? – BBC News Arabic

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the Vice President had already spent more than three years with the administration to fulfill its promises, and his campaign described the -statements such as “dangerous liberalism.”

Trump asked, “Where was (Harris) and why didn’t he?”

“I think if you want to know who cares, look at who they’re fighting for,” Harris responded in her speech Friday in North Carolina.

She said: “Donald Trump fights for billionaires and big corporations, and I fight to return money to working and middle-class Americans.”

Harris’ campaign proposals include the “first ever” tax exemption for home builders sold to first-time buyers, as well as up to $25,000 in aid to to finance the down payment that “eligible” buyers receive when they purchase their first home. , a measure that her campaign appreciates.

He also called for the monthly price of insulin medication to treat diabetes to be $35 for everyone, finding ways to eliminate medical debt, and for families to benefit from a tax reduction of $6,000 in the year of the birth of a new child.

Harris supports a federal law that prohibits businesses from charging inflated prices for groceries, and she urged action on a bill in Congress that would bar landlords from using services that “coordinating” rent.

The Democrats and their friends hope that Harris will prove that she is a more powerful and confident candidate compared to President Joe Biden regarding the economic crisis that the country is suffering.

Robert Weissman, co-chair of the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, called Harris’ plans a “pro-consumer, anti-corporate agenda.”

“The (Biden) administration has talked about this but in no way promoted the proposed measures as strongly as Harris,” he said.

However, pollster Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, said inflation is likely to remain a challenge for Democrats, noting that voters have a long history of confidence in Trump and Republicans on economic issues.

A recent CNBC poll on economic issues showed that Trump still has a significant lead over Harris on these issues, Roberts said: “Trump has the advantage on this issue. “

He said that without any major change, it would be “hard for me to believe” that the gap had suddenly disappeared.

Although experts say some of Harris’ proposals, such as a ban on price increases, are likely to be popular, they have drawn criticism from some economists.

Price gouging is already banned in many states, as well as in emergency situations like hurricanes.

However, economists say that this term is difficult to define, and that extending the use of these rules could lead to negative results, by discouraging companies from increasing production at times when supply is tight. decline

Michael Salinger, a professor of markets, public policy and law at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, said a similar ban was considered when he worked as an economist at the Federal Trade Commission during the administration of former US President George W. W. Bush.

He said: “I thought it was a bad idea then, and I think it’s a bad idea now. By controlling competitive markets, decline in supply, and this has always been our experience.”

Salinger said the Harris campaign’s other plans would also face skepticism, given how much they would cost to implement.

Estimates show that the proposal to increase the child tax credit to up to $3,600, which Congress did for a time during the pandemic and chose not to extend, for example, would cost more than a trillion dollars.

With populism growing in both parties, this cost did not stop Trump and his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, from supporting a larger expansion of the tax deduction.

Salinger said Trump’s other economic plans are unlikely to address inflation concerns.

Economists expect increased scrutiny to have a limited impact due to the global nature of energy markets, and have warned that Trump’s promise to impose a tax of 10 percent or more on imports would push prices higher.

It is worth noting that price increases were declining, as shocks due to supply chain issues during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine were receding.

The Labor Department said this week that inflation, which tracks the pace of price increases, reached 2.9 percent in July, the smallest annual increase since March 2021. This is close to the 2 percent level that is considered normal, despite prices rising about 20 percent since then. January 2021.

“The problem people face is that even if inflation goes down, prices are still high and that’s true but they’re higher because of the normal operation of market forces,” said Salinger.

He said: “Trying to tap into market forces is a lot like trying to stem the tide. You can’t do that.”