The competitive self-destruction of the Republican party as we once understood it is on full display today. 
Trump wants to cap interest rates at 10 percent. Is this the Bernie Sanders campaign? Not Quite. It’s worse. Sanders and AOC proposed 15 percent.
It’s Temporary, Says Trump
Sadly, please consider Trump’s Price Controls on Credit Cards
“While working Americans catch up, we’re going to put a temporary cap on credit-card interest rates,” he told a rally last week in New York. “We’re going to cap it at around 10%. We can’t let them make 25 and 30%.”
Mr. Trump’s promised “temporary” 10% cap is lower than the rate that America’s two leading socialists proposed in 2019. A bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aimed to limit rates on consumer debt to 15%. “Modern-day loan sharks are no longer lurking on street corners breaking kneecaps,” Mr. Sanders said. “They wear three-piece suits and work on Wall Street.”
Why do Messrs. Trump and Sanders think it’s helpful to limit credit access and send folks to the pawn broker or leg breaker instead? Card companies might respond by raising fees, which is what happened to free checking after Democrats regulated debit swipe charges in 2010.
Price Gouging
Trump mocked Kamala Harris’ proposal for price gouging on food. “Comrade Kamala announced that she wants to institute socialist price controls. You saw that. Never worked before. Never ever worked.”
Agreed. So what does Trump do but propose “socialist price controls“.
Minimum Wage War Heats Up
As Trump and Harris call to end tip taxes, a wider minimum wage war heats up
NBC notes Trump and Harris Call to End Tip Taxes
Vice President Kamala Harris’ call to scrap taxes on tips adds to the bipartisan support for a proposal her rival, former President Donald Trump, floated two months earlier. But the fate of the policy idea could hinge on broader disagreements on base pay regardless of who wins the election.
Unlike Trump, Harris proposed pairing the elimination of federal taxes on tip income with a bump in the national minimum wage, which has been $7.25 an hour since 2009.
“It’s heartening that everybody’s talking about it,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of the labor advocacy group One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. But “it means nothing until we raise these workers’ wages and end the subminimum wage for tipped workers,” she said.
While support for higher base pay is more widespread among Democrats on Capitol Hill, some congressional Republicans, including Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, co-sponsored a minimum wage hike last year.
What the Flying Bleep!?
- Trump and Harris both propose huge hikes in Child Tax Credits. Trump will not say how he will pay for them.
- Trump is competing with Harris on unions and taxes on tips.
- Vance co-sponsored minimum wage hikes.
- Trump, Biden, and Harris are in competitive bidding on tariff hikes, especially on China.
- Trump proposes no tax on Social Security payments, again without saying how he will pay for that.
- Democrats in New York desperately want to kill Trump’s caps on SALT (state and local income tax deductions). Trump says OK.
Seriously, What the Hell?
I expect Harris will quickly embrace Trump’s caps on interest rates.
Regarding Social Security, I expect Harris to adopt Trump’s idea but restrict it to low-income households to make it fair.
Of course, Trump will attack Harris for not having any ideas.
The best Harris response would be to say “Trump seldom has any good ideas, but when he does, I will gladly take them.”
That’s the home run response. It’s on deck.
Recall that a cap SALT deductions was a key provision that helped finance Trump’s last round of tax cuts. Now he is willing to do away with it, again without saying how he will pay for it. Mercy!
Lesson of the Day
You cannot (hmmm, I mean should not) attempt to compete with Democrats on free money handouts. They can always do more or make them look more fair.
Worse yet, Trump is proposing things that are massively inflationary unless he can specify how he will pay for these ideas. But he won’t.
And if you think tariffs will do it, you are only nuts. Besides, tariffs are a regressive tax on consumers.
I will cover tariff proposals separately.
Harris Declines to Comment on Her Changing EV Position
On September 21, I noted Harris Declines to Comment on Her Changing EV Position (Everything Else Too)
“My Values Have Not Changed”
Upon refection, I believe you can take that to the bank.
Her values have not changed. What has changed is Harris is pretending that the policies she supports have changed.
Trump talks too much about the wrong things. Harris won’t talk at all. It’s a very smart policy by Harris.
Why talk when your opponent keeps sticking his foot in his mouth.
Meanwhile, Trump is trying to outcompete Harris on free money proposals, and now price caps.
This is truly beyond pathetic.
As the old saying goes democrats embraced socialism willing, republicans only reluctantly
The problem isn’t the rate, it’s the (laxe) qualification for the card in the first place.
For the “responsible” author and readers here who say they pay off their loans. The credit card debt is a drop in bucket compared to what the US Government borrows monthly to cover and print for their credit card debt. So what’s the big deal. Everyone and everything is 100% insolvent. This country will have to sell assets like land or default(which is what I think it’s going to do once their war starts)
we financed the us by land sales and tariffs. no need for anything more. but that is a fantasy now. we bust up into 50 states like the modern EU structure. or the pre 1860 structure for you history buffs. keep the navy, highways and courts………open state borders……..etc………we are heading there. fold in the debts of the bad states with the solvent ones……….like EU did. like Jefferson and Hamilton did.
Lending money is high risk unless you have collateral. That’s why a home equity line is 6-8% and credit cards are 20+. It’s like payday lending scam. Taking advantage of the incompetence the US Department of education has wrought. No basic teachings of loans and interest and living within means. All predatory system chasing peons paying 20% .
why in history some form of debt jubilee occurs every 3 or 4 generations regardless of form of government for the past many thousands of years……..
dumpy does not care whether he wins nor loses. he’s a narcissist and a nihilist. he just craves attention like a unweaned whelp. he’s a cry for help. get that man help and a rubber room. i will admit he is quite hysterical. after i saw him live at the freedomfest in july 2015, only 2 weeks after his great escalator ride…………i concluded with some old thinker pals from near queens, the donald had revived vaudeville. the nation missed it without knowing it. fast fast fast. crude, rude and funny…………
I’ve not heard either candidate talk about the Fed. deficit.
I’ve not heard either candidate discuss banning the deadly covid shots
Both RFK and Tulsi have been fairly quiet … RFK talks vax tho.
Florida says “no” to mRNA.
https://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2024/09/20210912-
UpdatedGuidanceCOVID-19.html
dumpy v momala. it’s just virtue signalling differences, just like all their voters. it’s one big uniparty war mongering spending to the moon………..the joke is on the vast percent of Volks that are too stooooopid to catch on. we ain’t in the party. just egging the house party like i did as a 13 year old.
One that hasn’t come up yet is what’s going to happen when Student Loan repayments restart? (at least not at 30%). I read that SL value is $1.6T
Credit card debit is the least of a concern…value $1.1T but at least people expect they need to pay (barring job loss and BK).
I’ll guess many SLs won’t get re-paid…until wage garnishment starts….if employed.
Why not just bail out everyone with a CC balance? Just like they are bailing out all the zombie companies and banks?
Student loans are also recourse debt- the Dept Ed gets the lionshare of the profits for their illicit needs and graft.
that is the crime of student loans. i had my office next to instiutional student loan bond traders for years………..criminals really. i just traded stocks and currency. they were screwing the 18 year olds………..who just listen to their elders usually. the boomers were and are basically self centered willing to screw their own kids generation for a few lousy shekels and ugly mcmansions……..
If Trump really wants to help people on a budget and punish the usurers, he’d be saying repeatedly loud and clear at his rallies, eff the credit card companies, don’t ever carry a balance with them. But they probably donate to his campaign, and he takes their filthy money, so he sells out to them, just like Harris and the rest of the Uniparty does. I wouldn’t be surprised if the CC companies were onboard with, or even proposed this idea, to make people think they’re getting some kind of favor. Sorry if that sounds cynical but these debt longers just want people to think every thing is hunky dory while they continue their grift.
Sorry, that was pretty spiteful, just lose my temper feeling like our society’s being unnecessarily burdened by all this senselessness.
You know when you live on CASH instead of fake credit
you tend NOT TO GET INTO FINANCIAL STRAIGHTS
I agree. As I have said in the past, the ONLY person Harris could beat was Trump. It’s a shame Trump didn’t walk away when Biden did.
I wonder who will win… Dallas Cowboys or Washington Football Team?
More silliness.
The heck with caps on interest rates.
The benefits are too variable.
What is needed are absolute caps.
Like a $50 per month maximum payment.
Now that would be helpful.
There needs to be a $100/hr minimum wage. That will help people make their interest payments.
The min wage is always zero … but the work is easy!
Trump and Harris have the same end goal. Reduce demand for loans so savings (supply) increased. The government can then borrow a lot of money at lower interest rates.
lower c/c rate will increase demand for loans == > higher bank’s assets, less delinquencies and less zombi accounts. Prosperity will lift all workers.
Demand for loans that won’t be offered you mean…WTF would any CC issuer provide 10% CC debt? They won’t, except when funds rate is low, and will only be offered to those that are strong enough borrowers that they pay balance off monthly.
As it should be.
The next 7 good years. Higher GDP, higher productivity. A shift from the service sector to producing real goods, real stuff. Prosperity lift all workers. Gov debt will be
cut ==> to survive the next bad years.
Utopia!!!
If Trump wants to be picked off, the BANKERS will make sure it happens. NO ONE SCREWS WITH BANK GROSSES ON CARDS!
Remember, with Trump it is always a negotiation. I agree 10% is extreme but AMEX charging over 30% interest is way more extreme. As Trump does, he is shining a light and as a result rates charged by AMEX will go down.
That’s funny because I pay 0% on all my credit cards because I simply don’t carry a balance. How about we try that instead of socialism/communism?
Ok, let’s see, the rich pay 0% on their unrealized gains (but can borrow against them); while the poor pay a higher tax rate as well as 30% interest when they NEED to borrow for an emergency.
Rigged system/swamp (bankers, politicians, fed) must go. At least Trump tries to help everyone not just the welfare class.
You have no idea who actually pays for all that socialism the “poor” get do you?
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2023-update/
The bottom 50% pay 3.1% in taxes and share 2.3% of the overall tax burden.
The top 1% pay 42.3% of ALL taxes. The top 25% pay 88.5% of ALL taxes.
Data will set your mind free and get you out of poverty too but only if you let it.
Prosperity will lift the bottom 50%’s wages. Higher wages, higher tax collection. Higher inflation, plus budget surpluses and high tariffs ==> will lower the gov debt. If Trump cuts taxes the greedy Pareto top socialists will invest in the economy and everybody will benefit.
My point wasn’t about taxes; rather that the rich don’t face a punishing 30% interest rate.
PS – You ought to look at a dictionary for the word “overall” and “ALL” … I looked at your link, the stats don’t include state and sales tax. Ignoring whether FICA is a tax or not…
Yeah but the state income and sales tax is trivial because if you’re not making the income, you’re not spending a lot either are you?
And the rich take on loans, just look up how many times Trump has filed for bankruptcy in the billions. Heck look at how many people file for bankruptcy in any given year, the majority are likely formerly “rich” people.
People need to learn how to manage their money better. They need to learn how to save instead of having the latest iPhone, getting their nails/hair done, going out to eat, etc. You need to save to pay cash for what you want instead of charging it. If you’re paying 30% interest rates on your credit cards you deserve it.
This is what homelessness is supposed to help accomplish!
But our society doesn’t allow for such lessons to be learned any longer. Now we find homes for the homeless, so they can continue to screw up!
I do the same and get Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards and I upgrade our Prem Econ seats to lie-flat beds in Business Class Long Haul to LHR and LIS/MADRID….
I usually hitch a ride on a Gulfstream and play cards.
One of the locally wealthy was driving a new Rolls Royce recently (a beautiful shade of robin’s egg blue, I might add). At the stoplight, he asked if I had any grey poupon to spare?
But of course!
feed the beast !
Lower interest rates ==> higher vol. ==> Higher GDP and higher productivity.
Lower interest rates ==> higher indebtedness –> bigger bubble ==> massive failures and bankruptcies.
I agree. I think this is a great idea. Not everyone can pay off their card in one payment. Gouging people on interest rates should not be tolerated.
Good job Donnie!
O/N is down to 4.83%. If it drops to 3%/3.5% charging 10% plus fees is good enough. The banks might avoid lending to risky borrowers, or limit their available credit. The spread between available credit and monthly bal is huge. No harm will be done if they cut it by 30%. Charging 10% instead of 25%/30% reduce delinquencies, the recycle bin and zombi’s accounts. In a good economy banks will thrive.
“…avoid lending to risky borrowers,”
Now who da thunk?
Will not be weeping for the Banks who used their clout (as in Donations), to BUY the political Class, so as to write the Laws that have created the modern debt Slavery economy we are currently experiencing.
The sticklers can call this a run on sentence.
Who is fool enough to believe the existing system is a Free market economy that is freely determined ?
That is like believing the Fed knows what it is doing.
Debt slavery is a personal choice.
That is incorrect. Many people find themselves in a bind so they take that first sip of credit to make it thru until things get a bit better.
Bank credit creation drives up cost of goods, and earnings fail to keep up.
Since prices continue to rise those people who start with a little credit then start to slip as once again they find themselves short. But they are assured by media that everything is just wonderful.
People then find themselves trapped by Debt. This used to be only a problem for those taking loans from Loan sharks.
However the credit card originators thought they wanted a piece of that pie and got the regulatory approval to get into Loansharking legally.
Goldman and their Apple card fiasco a prime example. Write offs supposedly in the 5-6 Billion range and they have or are in process of selling loan portfolio to someone else who will try to collect what they purchased from Goldman for cents on the dollar.
Credit card activity going to take a hit soon enough as the consumer losses from issuing credit will be reigning in availability. Just another reason to take a defensive posture in markets.
The ‘scared majority’ could deliver a landslide victory for Trumphttps://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4891015-the-scared-majority-could-deliver-a-landslide-victory-for-trump/
I am old enough to remember when there used to be these things called “Usury Laws” at the state level that limited the rate of interest banks could charge on loans. Among the very first states to overturn them was Delaware (thanks, Joe Biden) and that was why most of the credit card companies incorporated there. I doubt that there any states left that have such laws, and if they did, any bank wanting to circumvent such law would simply relocate its headquarters.
The credit card agreement is not just between card holder and financial institution. There is the government playing the third role, namely enforcer with the power to steal and jail people, and to work out bankruptcy procedures. Sooooo, if it is a 3-party contract in any case, why should one of them have nothing to say in the matter?
If a credit card company cannot go above 10% while it has to in order to make profit against a nearly bankrupt card holder, we may all be better off if the company just stops lending.
“If a credit card company cannot go above 10% while it has to in order to make profit against a nearly bankrupt card holder, we may all be better off if the company just stops lending.”
I agree this is a sorry state of affairs.
But who gets to decide what is better for whom? You? Government? Or the free market?
Do we eliminate all the pawn shops and Payday Loan operations too? (Because that is the only alternative).
Is no chance better than some? That is effectively what you are saying.
Markets can be more or less free. It’s not black and white.
there is a reason a jubilee of one fashion occurs about every 3 generations in human history. anthropology and history 101.
When they have to pay rent, payroll or invoices small businesses only option: Zero rate for 8 months thereafter c/c rate 25%/30%. Trump wants to help the forgotten people. Trump understands small businesses. The banks rob the little guys !
Banks rob the little guy who pays to pay for the other little guy that doesn’t. I can assure you that there is profit in the CC business, but there is competition so the profits are limited by the market, and the losses on non payments are very real. I see credit on a daily basis and it is shocking to see the profit and loss write offs on CC debt. I would never touch that space without adequate yield.
Price controls lead to shortages. Limit the interest rates for risky loans (credit cards) and you’ll have a lack of credit. No problem for me since I pay the balances off immediately but a lot of folks don’t.
A lack of credit make work wonders against inflation.
Another great win for the free market! “Under my watch we will have no regulations, no restrictions, just pure market forces driving everything. It’s a utopia for entrepreneurs!” – Donald Trump (Probably)
***with help from Google Gemini
****Sarcasm mine: Gemini sucks at sarcasm
I wish Mishtalk had a laugh button! Thanks.
But, But, I’m Republican and I LOVE the Free Market…unless TRUMP doesn’t llike it…then I hate it!!!! /sarc
I propose no interest at all! Charging interest on money is a scam all together.
Thanks. I’ll make a note.
Note: There is no time value on money.
I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
That’s a Wimpy retort.
HA!
You need a laugh button, Mish 🙂 Some of this is truly high comedy.
Just as many drugs are illegal; capping interest rates to, say 2-4X 1 year Treasuries is a reasonable method of helping people help themselves.
Yes, pawn shops and loan sharks will continue to exist but maybe self-discipline will kick-in too. This is longstanding in Western Civs.
—-
The Biblical doctrine of usury rests primarily on three texts: Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35; and Deuteronomy 23:19-20. Exodus and Leviticus prohibit loans of money or food with interest to a needy brother or sister or even a resident alien. Deuteronomy forbids taking interest from any person.
I think you would be shocked by how much the economy would crash.
Forget loan sharks/pawn shops and think about regular businesses. How many people could come up with $1000+ cash to buy a new fridge or washer/dryer or furniture or get their car repaired etc. Those are credit based businesses because the prices of those products and services pretty much exceeds half of America’s bank account cash (so they could not use debit). You’d see a cratering of GDP.
Also if I’m not Christian, what do I care what’s in the Christian bible about interest?
Bible represents history/traditions of many, many people….you’re welcome to ignore history and re-invent the world in your vision.
Ya’all here really can’t understand that not everyone can say “no” to various vices.
I’ve never met a single person who doesn’t have some kind of vice even if it’s just something a simple as guys with video game addictions or women with shoes.
Part of personal growth is learning to control your impulses.
Here come the user fees.
Don’t worry. Trump, AOC, and Bernie will cap those too.
Government has a solution for everything.
Correction. They have a solution for everything EXCEPT capping their own salaries, benefits and pensions 😉
One good innovation in the UK was the creation of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility that is funded by the tax payer to validate the cost of government policies. Not sure how that could be made to work in a federal system but it would be good to see. Checks and balances like this are a key element of defending a democratic system amongst all the populist retoric.
Won’t see Biden jumping on that issue. Usury-loving Delaware would have a lot to lose.
What Biden jump? He’s lucky if he can stand!
Don’t worry, Delaware (and its corporate owners) have plenty more politicians in hand.
Biden pretty much signs everything he sees.
Once everything in a system is socialized, the pols have nothing to do but peddle favors to various voter interests. A 10% cap on credit card interest? It’s no crazier than a federally supported banking system in which risk is already largely nationalized. Various income sources untaxed? Why not if it buys votes; it’s no different in principle from Biden’s student loan relief. I’ll admit I’m shocked by Trump’s brazenness, but I shouldn’t be. Today I can’t even say the other side is worse.
I can hope that a sort-of isolationist foreign policy might keep us out of Europe’s next big war, but given Trump’s complete lack of intellectual consistency even that’s very questionable.
So, if we think a financial bust is sort of built into the national future, do we want a nominally Republican administration to take the rap? Or should we hope a catastrophe on the Harris watch might at least preserve a theoretical alternative in what’s left of the GOP?
Or maybe we throw up our hands and admit that 2025 may be the Cloward-Piven year.
Laws regulating or prohibiting usury go back nearly 4000 years, back to the ancient Hammurabi Code and the Hebrew Bible. The US has had laws regulating interest rates since Colonial times. The reason for this is simple; debt is a trap that can easily and quickly destroy people’s lives. Debt growth for interest rates above 20% grow very quickly. The fact that most humans are poor judges of exponential change compounds the problem. Our minds work linearly, so the rapid growth can be unexpected. The fact that some credit card companies now charge regular revolving accounts in excess of 30% interest is shocking. This is not economically sustainable.
They charge those rates because the default rate on the cards is high.
They honestly don’t expect those balances to ever get paid off. They just hope to make enough in payments to justify the initial outlay of money (break even and make a small profit).
No, they will settle for a small profit, they hope for a large profit!
Both the 1978 case, Marquette National Bank v. First of Omaha Service Corp. and the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act removed interest rate restrictions.
The excessive competition for deposits during the GD led to Reg Q ceilings for the banks. The nonbanks weren’t regulated until 1966. As banks don’t lend deposits, there is no need for the payment of interest on consumer or business accounts.
Savers never transfer their savings outside the banks unless they hoard currency or convert to foreign currencies, e.g., FDI. The nonbanks (intermediaries) are the DFI’s (banks) customers.
New York State has had some form of Usury Laws since about 1717, and capitalism there seems to have survived. But, sure, loan sharking is okay, and there’s lots of fine people loan-sharking. The truth is that today capitalist society is becoming more and more parasitic, from credit card interest rates, to the very profitable drug trade, and expanding Lottery sales.
I believe those caps were still pretty high, something like 30%.
Was 16% but then they “reformed” the law to 25% with an Article IX license for “small loans”
https://www.dfs.ny.gov/legal/interpret/lo110314.htm#:~:text=%5BT%5Dhe%20legal%20rate%20of,%2C%20is%2016%25%20per%20annum.
“This is truly beyond pathetic.”
It wouldn’t be the #DumbAge if it wasn’t for dumb.
There currently isn’t a single “leader”; of any institution of any kind, public nor private, in the entire United States; who would not, as recently as 50 years ago, have been; correctly; classified as clinically retarded. Not one.
This is one of the problems with having a convicted felon running for president. The felon is desperate to win and will promise anything short of feeding his own grandmother to Haitian immigrants.
She’s not convicted and neither is oatmeal brain Joe. She’s also 1/2 Jamaican, not Haitian. Work on those facts.
???
Bill & Hill went to Haiti on their honeymoon.
It was a corrupt prosecution, like those in communist countries.
If you sleep with porn stars and try to bribe the pornstars to keep quiet, bad things are going to happen to you (especially in non-communist countries).
@Mish We finally agree on something. There is no Republican party anymore. All there is left is the Trump-MAGA party that will probably self destruct once Trump drops out of this race (yes I think he will drop). Then the “old guard” republicans will try to re-build. In case you need to see a similar situation all you have to do is look at Venezuela when Chavez won. Despite what people think Chavez was never a Socialist or Communist. He was %100 populist. His first action was to modify the constitution and fire most of the career government employees with his own party people (kind of what 2025 is about). The problem with that is that countries run on the backs of career bureaucrats (despite how much you hate them). Destroying career employees is stupid. All you have to see to understand this is look at the “Republicans’ in congress they are the majority and yet they are unable to govern. So yes Trump and MAGA are wrong for this or any country.
The old GOP is dead. Good riddance. It consisted of a bunch of worthless war mongers. The GOP, when in power, has always acted against the interests of their voters and in the interest of their donors (owners).
Our MIC needs war to stay profitable and employ millions. D’oh.
I have no idea what you are or are not allowed to do in the Venezuelan constitution but it is flat out impossible for a President to modify the American one. It’s also flat out impossible to fire a bunch of people without cause (ie belong to the wrong political party).
So whatever Chavez did there, can’t be done here. If it could be done, it would have been done long ago before Trump by plenty of prior presidents.
If Congress zero’s or cuts a department, then civil servant layoffs may hit (after all the usually solid contractors are laid-off first). No “cause” is needed.
Cutting out a department (when was the last time that was done – LOL) may allow for layoffs.
But Chuck stated it would be a replacement of the existing people with new ones based on belonging to the ‘party in power’. That’s something else entirely.
You also have no idea what Trump wants to do here either. Project 2025, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, aims to significantly reshape the federal workforce by reintroducing Schedule F . This classification would reclassify certain career federal employees (about 50K employees), particularly those involved in policy-making, as political appointees. Here are the key impacts:
Job Security: Career federal employees reclassified under Schedule F would lose many of their civil service protections, making them more vulnerable to dismissal based on political reasons.
Political Influence: The reclassification would allow the administration to replace these employees with individuals who align more closely with the president’s policies and priorities.
Operational Changes: This shift could lead to significant changes in how federal agencies operate, potentially increasing political influence over traditionally non-partisan roles.
This reclassification is part of a broader effort to consolidate executive power and reshape the federal government according to conservative principles.
Bravo Mish! You are the only one calling trump and GOP out for their growing socialism. It’s amazing where the republican party has gone over the last two decades and makes me wonder where it will be in another decade. Perhaps it will be much like UK politics between liberals and Tories.
This is why I keep saying no politician is going to save anyone, you have to focus on your own self being. I heard a great quote today on CNBC from Richard Bernstein, “profits are the lifeblood of employment.”
Seems both parties want to kill profits and employment.
I understand your sentiment. Trump is undisciplined as a campaigner. I am not sure if he is serious about this proposal and some other economic populist ideas.
You probably understand the power of free money. It is an unstoppable political force, enabled by the illusion of the economic viability of massive spending and debt. The optimist in me wants to believe that Trump makes these economic populist positions to thwart Harris and Democrat vote buying. The pessimist in my indicates that Trump lacks discipline and perhaps has more economic confusion as he ages.
No matter what populist ideas Trump may mutter, the effective policies of Trump/Harris will be very different on immigration, taxation, spending, and regulations. Trump will push for interior enforcement and border restrictions. Harris will push for the opposite. On taxation, Harris wants much higher rates on capital gains, ordinary income, estate taxes, payroll taxes, and unrealized capital gains (if she can get it), Trump will strive to keep the 2017 tax law with some modest changes. On spending, Democrats want taxpayer subsidies for higher education (including student loan forgiveness), green energy subsidies, expanded health care subsidies (Obamacare exchanges, Medicaid, Medicare, …), expanded welfare for migrants (housing, health care, food, tax credits, …), and expanded housing subsidies (a very active push by Democrats for expansion of Medicaid benefits to pay for housing costs). Democrats want a continued expansion of government regulations staying with the Biden approach to make large regulatory expansions. Trump will stop excessive spending that can be controlled with executive orders such as student loan forgiveness and reduce regulatory burdens (his major achievement in his first term).
“Trump will stop excessive spending that can be controlled with executive orders such as student loan forgiveness and reduce regulatory burdens (his major achievement in his first term).”
Are you serious? Try re-reading Mish’s post in its entirety. Trump promising endless tax cuts for social security, tips, and other things will not stop excessive spending, it will make it worse.
“Trump wants to cap credit card rates” is incompatible with “Trump will reduce regulatory burdens.”
Try to start thinking for yourself instead of being blinded by your trump fetish and TDS type II.
Okay, Type II TDS is CLASSIC!
classic is correct. TDS AYPE II, IS MAGA. TDS TYPE 1 are the libruuuuuuuuls that are frightened of dumpy………..
Good analysis.
I don’t think Harris will succeed with taxing unrealized gains – goes against GAAP, I’m sure. Would be like the British taxing daylight, in the 19th century.
Growing socialism? The GOP has been socialist for decades. Look at both Bush 1 and 2. Stupid government solutions that don’t work. More $ for everything and bigger and better wars.
It’s the free market for citizens and cronyism for the connected.
I get that the government shouldn’t try to be everyone’s parent, but on the other hand this 2:46 video makes a good point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ZJKN_5M44
“Why do Messrs. Trump and Sanders think it’s helpful to limit credit access and send folks to the pawn broker or leg breaker instead?”
Absolutely whenever “credit access” is greater than it would be if the dollar was fully convertible at $20/Oz; absolutely ANY limiting,of absolutely any and all kinds of “credit access,” is helpful. Full stop. No exceptions. Ever.
Trump never was a right winger. He was a 1980s style big city Democrat. The fact that things like borders, gender and being antiwar are controversial just shows how far to the wacky fringe the Democratic Party has moved.
Yes and he still is.
His whole MAGA movement is essentially what the Democrats used to represent (middle class America) back then which is why his rallies are so well attended in the rust belt and rural America etc.
Certainly beginning in the very early 1960s the US began to become Fools governed by Greater Fools, perhaps beginning with FDR. ☮️✝️
A chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage
Pathetic is too technical of a term to describe a Clown Show.
The highest priority should be reducing the probability for a world war, which Trump is the only option at this point.
Why should Social Security be taxed?
Tariff’s or taxing producers is bad, but I would prefer taxing foreign entities first.
Oh no, yet another prolific commenter who does not know/understand who actually pays a tariff statutorily. Please, please, please write your tariff article soon, Mish
yes, I understand that taxes/tariffs are passed on to the consumer, but why would anyone want both higher taxes and higher prices? I also understand we should take lower prices from wherever we can get them, but as wars break out and our enemies default on our bonds, we need an incentive to reestablish and improve our manufacturing base faster.
Enemies don’t default on our bonds. Only WE can default on our bonds.
No one wants both higher taxes and higher prices. But understand that higher taxes automatically leads to higher prices (they are always passed on to the final consumer).
For those who think this is a bad idea, don’t worry. It will not pass. No way it will get 60 votes in the Senate. It is a hill that the corporatocracy will die on. I have no problem with it on the merits. Yes, it would mean a radical reduction in the amount of credit offered to all but the most creditworthy people. In other words, it will have a disparate impact on people of color, the heavily tatted, people with loans for four-wheelers and probably the trans community, too.
Actually with rates capped at 10% I suspect over half of America or more could not get a credit card and even if you could, it would have a very limited amount available on it (like 1000).
VERY few people have cards at <10% beyond those ‘intro offers’ type thing to get you to switch. The reason rates are that high is because defaults are high.
True. It would be like capping the max waist size of pants to 34″. 75% of Americans would have to wear their bathrobe everywhere.
Trump certainly.
pro tip for life. ancient wisdom at least 5k years old. don’t borrow money. don’t lend money. have a much more content and easy life.
Deficits don’t matter I’m told.
Told by whom Braindead Joe
since raygun era, deficits, debts, and currency debauchery don’t matter.