Essay on Donald Trump's Emergence as a Winner: A Critique of Nationalist Neoliberalism

Donald Trump was declared a winner in the 2016 elections, mainly because the voters in three states who supported Barrack Obama changed their vote from the democratic to the republican (Komlos). The emergence of Trumpism can be located in various sources. Trumpism can be defined as nationalist neoliberalism. Put differently; it can be said to be advanced neo-liberalization which is put together with the elements of economic nationalist at discourse and policy level. The paper will critique the economics of Donald Trump and the Trump administration (Komlos).

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The success of Donald Trump in 2016 was marked by his campaigns which were based on the American worker and the promise of reindustrialization. It is through this that he won support in specific areas which had exposure to international trade, economic crisis, unemployment and the loss of population. For instance, when China got into the Word trade organization, the US trade deficit increased from $83 billion to $370 billion, which resulted in the loss of jobs and unemployment (Komlos). Therefore, the promise for the American worker for job creation and reindustrialization together with condemning bad trade engagements with the US worked for Donald Trump in winning the electoral support.

To start with, Trumpism is characterized by two elements which are: increased neo-liberalization and economic nationalism (Cozzolino). The two elements cannot be regarded as different modalities in economic governance. Instead, they are two elements that are closely related in the current neoliberalism. Trumpism to this extent paints a picture of an economic nationalist that is concerned with international trade and in this case changing from a multilateral trade policy that was evident in most of the US trade agreements and the empowerment of macroeconomics that is neoliberal oriented (Cozzolino).

Historically, neoliberalism can be traced back to the Keynesian mechanism, which involved the accumulation of capital in the 1970s. it is said to be the historical phase of capitalism. (Cozzolino). As such, its ideologies, institutions and political processes are aimed at empowering the reign of capital, specifically finance via the powers of the state. The key aspect of Trumpism is that of taxation. A policy objective that was adopted was that of reducing taxes to the wealthy, which is consistent with the neoliberal principles which suggest that this type of tax policy encourages the 'trickle-down effect' effect to the rest of the society. It improves the investing and spending powers of those who have the capacity (Cozzolino). However, it should be noted that tax reforms, specifically in the 1980s played a major part in the rise of the income gap and social inequalities because taxation helps in assessing how regressive or progressive the income of distribution in a state is (Cozzolino).

It is important to note that there is more economic nationalism than just policy. It is also founded in political rhetoric and international relations. Donald Trump, to this extent, has found his way in appealing to those who can be referred to as 'globalization losers' and those who are left behind in the international trade policy. (Cozzolino). For instance, it has been said that the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump is a protest of those who are left behind economically (Jacobs).

Surprisingly, in the US, middle household incomes have stagnated since a quarter-century ago, although the GDP has risen by 80 per cent throughout this period. Donald Trump may fulfil his promises of tax cuts to the rich and increase infrastructure spending, but the trade war that is declared against china would be disastrous (Jacobs). The key feature that was evident in his campaigns was that of blaming external forces for the domestic economic challenges. For better solutions, there is a need to analyze the economy deeper.

The surge in unemployment and loss of skilled labor can only be associated with active political policies and business decisions instead of blaming others and the external forces. In coming up with the business choices, there should be decisions that create and shape the US market (Jacob). What is required in the US economy, is a state that redistributes its rewards to ensure productive economy has been developed. For instance, if you take investment as an example, big US corporates have returned the money to shareholders in huge amounts to increase share prices instead of investing in the future productive capacity (Jacob). As Bill Lazonick indicated, in the years between 2003-2012, huge companies gave back $2.4 trillion to shareholders. Currently, there is a lot of money that is idle in the books of large companies in the US that should be reinvested in the various sectors of the economy (Jacob).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Trump administration should think of getting to those who have higher incomes and specific sectors like the finance sector and tax them properly, and the funds obtained should be invested in productive capacity innovation. Proactive economic strategies are also needed through regulating the labor market and the use of fiscal powers to empower and develop the economy.

Works Cited

Cozzoino, Adriano. "Trumpism as nationalist neoliberalism. A critical enquiry into Donald Trump's political economy." Interdisciplinary Political Studies 4.1 (2018)" 47-73. Retrieved from DOI: 10.1285/i20398573v-4n1p47

Jacobs, M., and M. Mazzucatto. "The Brexit-Trump Syndrome: it's the economics, stupid, LSE British Politics and Policy Blog, 21 November 2016." (2016). Accessed from blogs.lse.c.uk

Komlos, John. The economic roots of the rise of Trumpism. NO. 6868. CESifo working paper, 2018. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10419/174991