Tough reality check for Trump’s pledge of better heartland jobs, wages
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Chaelotte ( North Carolina), Nov. 10, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Donald Trump’s promise to revive small town America faces a tough challenge in an economy that for decades has been wired to direct income and opportunities towards urban hubs and the better educated.
Little in the president-elect’s so far sketchy economic plans indicates the trend can be reversed any time soon, according to interviews with experts on income inequality and as recent occupational trends.
The manufacturing jobs Trump pledges to bring back have disappeared as much because of automation as the trade deals he has promised to rewrite, and that process will only continue.
A promised infrastructure revamp would boost middle wage jobs but for only as long as the programmes last, economists point out.
During President Barack Obama’s eight years in office incomes for the best off continued to diverge, despite nearly 10 million new jobs and recent strength in those paying middle-tier wages.
On a pre-tax basis, the share of income to the top fifth of households increased from 50.4 per cent to 51.4 per cent between 2008 and 2015 at the expense of all the others, according to census estimates.
“Without the sort of tax and redistribution policies Republicans have traditionally opposed, Trump may struggle to make good on his promise to help those left behind in the global economy.
“We have 30 to 40 years to catch upon lots of money has gone to the top and to change that is going to be a long and slow process,” David Madland, a senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress, said.
Trump campaigned promising to shake up a Washington establishment, he argued, was responsible for destroying middle class jobs with bad trade deals.
The message hit home across rural America and mid-sized cities, where voters felt they missed out on the fruits of the seven-year economic recovery that big cities may have enjoyed. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Muhammad Suleiman Tola