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Trumping Poverty
[CJ] - At the end of March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled back Obama-era fuel economy standards projected to add nearly $3,000 to the cost of a new car. It was the latest instance of President Trump’s record of cutting excessive regulations, which he describes as "stealth taxation, especially on the poor." Trump’s deregulatory actions over the past three years will increase the purchasing power of working-class income by up to 15 percent, at least after the Covid-19 pandemic passes and the economy begins functioning again. The current economic depression from the pandemic underscores the importance of removing obstacles to economic advancement for those most in need of it.One of the best-kept secrets in the economics of regulation is how regulation’s costs fall disproportionately on the poor. "Well-intentioned regulation often indulges the preferences of the wealthy," observes Creighton University professor Diana Thomas. By "driving up the prices of regulated goods and lowering the wages of lower income households and workers, such regulation is likely to have disproportionately negative or regressive effects on the poor." Trump’s 2020 reelection drive will likely position itself on the side of the poor and middle class, while portraying his likely Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, as a representative of the entrenched bureaucratic class that oversaw accelerated rulemaking during the Obama years. The historical trend has been toward ever-greater regulation, with all of Trump’s political competitors promising to restore that tradition and even exceed it. Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-24 |
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