More than 400 economists just endorsed Kamala Harris
More than 400 economists on Tuesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and her economic proposals, while slamming those of rival candidate Former President Donald Trump.
“It is a choice between inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump or prosperity, opportunity, and stability with Kamala Harris, a choice between the past and the future,” the economists said in an open letter, which was first reported by CNN (WBD).
The group is largely made up of left-leaning economists and officials who served under past Democratic presidents, as well as university professors. That includes Robert Reich and Alan Blinder, who worked for Former President Bill Clinton, as well as Jason Furman, Bill Daley, and Penny Pritzker, who served in Former President Barack Obama’s administration. Brian Deese, a top economist for President Joe Biden, also signed the letter.
Other signatories include University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers and Harvard University economist Claudia Goldin, who last October became the first female solo winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. At least one signatory served under a Republican president; Sean O’Keefe, who served as the deputy director for the Office of Management and Budget and later led NASA under Former President George W. Bush.
The letter touts Harris’ work as a public servant — including her career as California’s attorney general and a senator — as well as her campaign proposals. It follows a similar letter from almost 90 business leaders, including current and former public company CEOs, endorsing her vision.
Harris’s economic plan includes a push to restore the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC), create a new tax credit that would give low-income or middle-income families with a newborn child $6,000, and slash taxes by up to $1,500 for low-income individuals. She has also pledged to take aim at high prescription drug prices, expensive grocery bills, and Wall Street’s home buying spree.
Harris is expected to roll out a series of additional policies this week, potentially during a rally in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Trump’s economic proposals focus heavily on lowering taxes across the board for corporations, extend the CTC, end taxes on tips and overtime pay, replace the personal income tax with greater tariffs on foreign countries, especially China.
According to Goldman Sachs (GS) analysts, the best outcome of the 2024 presidential election, at least for the economy, would be a Harris win and a Democratic sweep of Congress. The worst scenarios occur when Former President Donald Trump gets back into office and implements tougher controls on immigration and high tariffs on imported goods, the analysts said.
Trump’s economic proposals would also increase the federal deficit by $5.8 trillion over the next decade, almost five times more than Harris’ proposals, which would add $1.2 trillion, according to recentstudies from The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model.
