According to the latest survey by The Wall Street Journal, there is a clear division between American voters and economists in the 2024 presidential election. While voters generally support the economic policies of Trump and Harris, mainstream economists express concerns about these proposals, even describing them as “shocking.”
The survey interviewed 750 registered voters and 39 economists, asking for their views on the economic policies proposed by the presidential candidates.
The survey found that 79% of voters support the proposal to eliminate the tip tax, but only 13% of economists support this policy. 87% of economists believe that this policy unfairly favors a certain group of workers, benefiting only a few low-wage workers, distorting the labor market, expanding the budget deficit, and potentially encouraging tax evasion.
Among the 39 economists interviewed, not a single one supported Trump’s proposal to impose a 20% tariff on all imported goods.
Similarly, the majority of voters support Harris’s plan to penalize companies engaging in price gouging, with only 13% of economists supporting this policy.
However, voters and economists also reached a consensus on some policies. For example, 74% of economists support Harris’s plan to provide a $6,000 tax cut for new parents, a plan also supported by 67% of voters.
Moreover, the majority of voters and economists do not support providing $25,000 in economic assistance to first-time homebuyers.
The report points out the irony of the 2024 campaign, where politicians proposing popular policies is not surprising, but from an economic perspective, these policies raise some doubts. Some interviewed economists have expressed that Trump and Harris’s political expertise has surpassed the economic theories taught in universities.
Both Trump and Harris majored in economics during their undergraduate studies. Trump obtained a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, while Harris earned dual bachelor’s degrees in political science and economics from Howard University in 1986 and served as the head of the university’s Economics Society.