Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman's column this morning in the New York Times explores the continuing economic decline of Trumpland: the areas of the country that strongly support con artist and demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump and are losing. His cynical campaign promises to revive the coal, steel and aluminum industries won't bring those industries or the jobs back, nor will a trade war with China. Krugman notes:
"Things have been falling apart on multiple fronts since the 1970s: Political polarization has marched side by side with economic polarization, as income inequality has soared.Much of the problem is based on poorly educated workforces in those regions, which haven't adjusted to the new economy. The regions that have attracted industries that require highly educated workers are doing better than those that don't, and higher educated workers bring higher wages, which bring better better schools and quality of life for their communities. But these poorer regions repeatedly elect Rethuglicans that are doing them harm:
And both political and economic polarization have a strong geographic dimension. On the economic side, some parts of America, mainly big coastal cities, have been getting much richer, but other parts have been left behind. On the political side, the thriving regions by and large voted for Hillary Clinton, while the lagging regions voted for Donald Trump."
"Many of the states that have refused to expand Medicaid, even though the federal government would foot the great bulk of the bill — and would create jobs in the process — are also among America’s poorest.That's the price of not paying attention as a citizen (or in class) and getting played over wedge issues and lies.
Or consider how some states, like Kansas and Oklahoma — both of which were relatively affluent in the 1970s, but have now fallen far behind — have gone in for radical tax cuts, and ended up savaging their education systems. External forces have put them in a hole, but they’re digging it deeper.
And when it comes to national politics, let’s face it: Trumpland is in effect voting for its own impoverishment. New Deal programs and public investment played a significant role in the great postwar convergence; conservative efforts to downsize government will hurt people all across America, but it will disproportionately hurt the very regions that put the G.O.P. in power" (emphasis added)
Yessirree, Trump and the Republicans really pulled a fast one on coal miners, steel workers, and farmers.They got played big time and pretty soon they are going to be wailing about the Black Lung that is killing them and how there's no Medicaid to get treatment. The steelworkers will be screaming that the tariffs are actually punishing them and the farmers are going to whine about pork prices dropping.
ReplyDeleteCarrier closed after Trump bragged he was saving it, coal mines are still closing and isolated pockets of hiring are minimal at best. China's whacking us for Trump's greed-based tariffs and the backlash will be bitter.
The Stock Market is a roller coaster with a lot of low drops and so Trump is also putting a pinch on wealthy investors. He seems to be making money only for himself, his family and his cronies in his administration. Hmmm, I think a lot of us tried to tell those miners, steel workers, and farmers that this would happen...I wonder if they believe us yet?
donnah -- "You can fool some of the people all of the time...." Trump's tapped into that demographic. Now that China's retaliating on tariffs that hit red states hard, we'll see if his cult followers start to peel off.
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