Julianne Malveaux
By Julianne Malveaux
Are you better off than you were three months ago, when the current President was sworn into office on January 20? That’s the question President Ronald Reagan posed to voters when he squared off against President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Voters concluded that they are worse off and chose Reagan over Carter. But the current President is lucky that no election is taking place tomorrow. His approval ratings have tanked. He has the lowest 100 day approval rating of any President since pollsters started asking this question. Are you better off? Don’t ask the thousands of federal workers who have lost their jobs, including those who used to work at US AID, or the IRS, or the Social Security Administration, among others. Don’t ask the elders who are frightened about the future of Social Security. Don’t ask the university professors who wonder if their free speech rights will be protected. If you ask any of these folks, they are likely to tell you that they are worse off than they were 100 days since the President took office, though some will tell you they are patiently hoping for things to get better.
When the current President was elected, he promised to lower prices and inflation. Prices have not come down, nor has inflation. Instead, this President has behaved like the proverbial bull in a China closet, wreaking havoc and creating chaos across the board. The President’s basic economic policy is tariffs. His rationale is that US-based manufacturing will grow if imports are more expensive than domestic goods. But the United States has neither the workforce nor the capacity to significantly increase in the United States. No matter. The President is stuck on senseless and can’t seem to make up his mind about economic policy. First unreasonably high tariffs were imposed, then suspend for everyone except China. The chaos and confusion make it impossible for businesses and consumers to plan. Planning an automobile purchase? Would you buy the car now or hold off, given looming tariffs? What about electronics? Initially caught up in the tariff wars, a call from one of the President’s tech bros suspended, for now, tariffs on electronics. What will happen three months from now?
Co-President Elon Musk, who was allowed to purchase a major role in government, is moving unchecked from the federal organization, clowning with a buzz saw, while workers are apprehensive about their futures. The federal government is experiencing brain drains, with many of the longest-serving workers preferring to retire than deal with the whiplash of trying to figure out what’s next. Recession fears are now at the 1990 level, and consumer confidence is at its lowest level since 1952. Musk’s economic acumen is demonstrated by the precipitous drop –71 percent – in his stock announced he will cut back on his work with the Department of Government Efficiency.
In his one hundred plus days, marked on April 29, this President has issued about 140 executive orders. Though he was elected to manage the economy, few of these executive orders have to do with the economy. Instead, he has leaped into the culture wars, including executive orders specifically targeting some of the Smithsonian Museums, especially the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The executive orders, which are not laws, have introduced an atmosphere of fear and obeisance. Law firms, universities, and others are happily kowtowing to this President’s racist, anti-diversity agenda. Too many, included elected legislators, are operating out of fear, too intimidated to say that the emperor is wearing no clothes.
Our economy is suffering, and so is our international reputation. Mexico and Canada, among our largest trading partners, are furious with us, so much so that Canadians elected a Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who was trailing in the polls until this President started attacking Canada. Who can trust us or plan to do business with us after our vacillating policies have left them confused? Who will lend us money when they can’t trust our stability. Can the European Union use this uncertainty to strengthen the euro? Will the euro supplant the dollar as the world’s default currency?
In addition to the chaos and confusion, there is also the delusion that this President continues to embrace – that he won the 2020 election. This delusion fuels much of his decision-making, as many who investigated him have now been threatened with investigation. This administration seems to revel in delusions, including delusions about history, delusions about prices (the President keeps saying grocery prices have dropped – they have not), and delusions about reality.
If I had to grade this President on his 100 day performance, I’d give him lower than a failing grade, call it an F minus. He is wrecking both the national and the international economy. He has ushered in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. And he has the nerve to say he is “having fun” in the process.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author based in Washington, DC. Juliannemalveaux.com.