Only Harris will ensure shared prosperity

WASHINGTON – Which US presidential candidate – Kamala Harris or Donald Trump – is proposing economic policies that are more likely to lead to shared prosperity and strengthen America’s national security? I recently joined 22 other Nobel Prize-winning economists in signing an open letter with a simple answer: Vice President Harris. Only Harris has a consistent program to reward science, facilitate the commercialization of innovations, and fund new businesses in every part of the country.

In contrast, while Trump claims to speak on behalf of people who feel left behind by globalization, his signature policies—much higher tariffs—will discourage innovation and prevent the creation of good new jobs. Extreme protectionism has been used many times in the modern world, and it has always disappointed and caused debilitating reactions from other countries.

If Trump pushes through higher tariffs, the prices of goods consumed by low-income people, including his supporters, will rise sharply. At best, his words are empty and worthless. But any president has the power to start a global trade war with Europe and America’s other trusted trading partners, which would have disastrous consequences for domestic prosperity and national security.