Donald Trump has revealed an alarming lack of policy knowledge. So has Bernie Sanders.
Even populist politicians should know a little something about policy
Donald Trump completely beclowned himself in a recent interview with The Washington Post. Even by his standards, it was a pretty embarrassing display of policy ignorance — though it probably played little or no role in his double-digit loss to Ted Cruz in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.
But it should have. This was perhaps the low-light: At one point, Trump promised to pay off the entire $19 trillion national debt by the end of his second term as president. But doing that — while also keeping promises to cut taxes, increase defense spending, and leave Social Security and Medicare untouched — would require Trump to somehow juice the economy so that it grew by a magical 25 percent a year, according to the newspaper's analysis.
Economicus growthus leviosa!
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That 25 percent figure is roughly eight times higher than the U.S. economy's average growth rate since World War II. To get to 25 percent, you're basically talking about a Star Trek economy of machine superintelligence, nanotechnology, and almost infinite abundance. Science fiction bordering on science fantasy. Indeed, as one budget analyst told the Post, "It's more consistent with a world where we're hiring butlers for our vacation homes on Ganymede."
Donald Trump, the post-Singularity candidate. Perhaps his U.S.-Mexico border will be a deflector shield or maybe an artificial wormhole that will automatically transport illegal immigrants back to their home countries.
But hey, Trump gonna Trump. He shouldn't be the standard by which voters judge the knowledge, experience, and competency of the other candidates. It's not a very high bar, after all.
Then again, if voters don't care, why should the candidates? Maybe the lesson of Trump's improbable ascent is not to bother with reason and data-driven policy positions.
Take Wisconsin-winner Bernie Sanders, someone treated — at least by the media — as a more serious thinker than Trump. But a recent Sanders sit-down the New York Daily News showed an almost Trumpian lack of policy knowledge and intellectual curiosity. When asked about trade, Sanders — as Trump does — decried the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to lower-cost nations from "bad deals" and "disastrous trade policies." Yet research suggests most — maybe 80 percent or more — of the decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs has been because of higher productivity and automation. Indeed, even as employment has fallen over the decades, manufacturing output has increased. Nor does Sanders seem to have much idea of how to get those jobs back or stop others from leaving. Would he, like Trump, ban companies from offshoring and outsourcing unless poorer nations paid workers more?
Of course, that can't happen. They're poor countries. And the only way they can broadly raise incomes and living standards is through trade and investment, which Sanders and Trump oppose. Or do only the American poor matter? How would Sanders help the global poor if not through capitalism? Yet it has been capitalism, not wealth taxes and redistribution, that has reduced extreme global poverty by a billion people since 1990.
Trade was hardly the only issue Sanders struggled with. He wants to break up the megabanks, but is fuzzy on how to make that happen, or if there might possibly be any downsides or unintended consequences. He says Wall Street's business model is "fraudulent" and executives should be prosecuted, but isn't quite sure for what crimes. He wants drone attacks to kill terrorists — not innocent people — but only says the "mechanism" needs to somehow be "refined" to avoid collateral damage. Sanders was also weak on his core issue of inequality, blaming only corporations and their attempts to "destroy trade unions." Yet inequality has been rising across advanced economies, suggesting broad macro forces — such as technology — may be playing a key role.
On many issues — abortion being one recent example — Trump doesn't seem to know what the policy arguments are. He just sort of reacts and says stuff off the top of his head. Sanders is a bit better, maybe. He perhaps understands his own left-wing argument, but not opposing ones from the center or right. And maybe that's unnecessary if your opponents are merely lackeys for Big Business. But it's hard to really understand a problem or know what to do about it if you don't know all sides. Even populist politicians should know a little something about policy.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
James Pethokoukis is the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he runs the AEIdeas blog. He has also written for The New York Times, National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and other places.
-
Israel concedes it may not be able to destroy Hamas
Speed Read Despite five months of war in Gaza, Israeli intelligence officials admit the militant group eludes them
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The art world and motherhood: the end of a final taboo?
Talking Point Hettie Judah's new touring exhibition offers a 'riveting riposte' to old cliches
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published