The Week Evening Review
Trump and the global economy, election denial, and Harris on guns

 
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

What might a Trump win do to the global economy?

Though he rails against "globalists," Donald Trump very much lives in an interconnected world, where his economic recommendations would affect global markets, too. He has called for intense deregulation, lowered corporate tax rates, and the "most beautiful word in the dictionary": tariffs. Nevertheless, the prevailing sentiment is that a Trump economy would lead to "higher prices, larger deficits and greater inequality" domestically, a group of 23 Nobel Prize-winning economists said in a letter backing Kamala Harris' domestic economic plan. 

What did the commentators say?
Globally, a second Trump term would "affect commerce multidimensionally," the Financial Times said. Under Trump's proposed economic policies, a "protectionist and smaller U.S. economy would be a drag on global economic growth," John Hawkins, an economist at the University of Canberra in Australia, said at The Conversation.

Trump's "fondness for tariffs," a sentiment which "most economists do not share," would be particularly harmful internationally, said CNN. Not only would tariffs "hurt global economic growth and drive up inflation in the U.S.," they could also do so overseas as well if other countries "introduce higher levies on U.S. imports in response." Another Trump term is the International Monetary Fund's "elephant in the room," said The Guardian. His "undesirable" economic policies "could reduce global GDP by 0.5 percentage points in 2026."

However, while Trump's proposals might hurt the U.S. economy, they would benefit "most others around the world," said the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Areas with "less U.S. trade would be less affected by the tariffs." This would "attract higher capital inflows as investors, reacting to the erosion of Fed independence, seek to invest in countries with less exposure to the United States, providing a boost to GDP," said the think tank.

What next?
The "backdrop" to these arguments, said the Financial Times, is the current U.S. economy, which has proven particularly strong in recent months. Especially in light of Trump's plans to gut the Federal Reserve's independence, the next president should be "eager to build on what is currently a resilient economy" rather than undermining it. 

Trump has argued his plan will bring in significant revenue, "increase production at home, create high-paying jobs and decrease inflation," said The New York Times. But by enacting broad tariffs, the ensuing "tit-for-tat" trade wars would "ultimately hurt every country by limiting trade, disrupting global supply chains, slowing growth and pushing up prices."

 
 

Statistic of the day

209.3 micrograms per cubic meter: The current level of fine particle air pollution in Delhi — 14 times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum. Seasonal smog regularly descends on India's capital between October and December, but the current hazardous air quality has been worsened by residents setting off firecrackers to celebrate Diwali, in defiance of a citywide ban.

 
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT

How GOP election denial thrives in 2024

Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election with false charges that the election had been stolen from him. Now, one of his attorneys from that effort is laying the groundwork for a similar push in 2024.

That lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, leads the Election Integrity Network, which is spearheading efforts to take Trump's "falsehoods about corruption in the democratic system and turn them into action," said The New York Times. (Mitchell advised Trump in 2020 when he pressured Georgia officials to make up his shortfall of votes in that state.) The group has lobbied for new state election laws and "fanned out" in the hunt for election fraud, working closely with the Republican National Committee. 

Mitchell is using election lawsuits to paint a picture of "rampant voting fraud," said The Intercept. The lawsuits are designed not to be won but to "confuse the public," said Scott Cummings, a legal ethics professor at the UCA School of Law. 

Mounting a 'much more coordinated attack'
The Trump campaign's efforts in 2020 were largely improvised. This time, the former president's allies have "mounted a much more coordinated attack," said Vanity Fair, most notably through efforts to control the Georgia elections board and pass new voting rules in the swing state. 

Mitchell and her allies say Democrats rely on the illegal votes of noncitizen immigrants to win, said The Huffington Post. There's little to no evidence to support her claims. Migrant voting is "exceedingly rare," said The Brennan Center for Justice. Attempts to purge voter rolls of noncitizens have mostly "resulted in the removal" of U.S. citizens.

Conspiracy theories 'thriving online'
Election conspiracy theories are "thriving online," said Wired. False stories, like those about ballots being destroyed, are part of the "flood of voting-related disinformation" spreading across social media, usually shared by "right-wing election denial networks, the Trump campaign and Russian propaganda groups." 

There could be a backlash. One recent poll shows American voters are leery of candidates who say Trump won in 2020, said NBC News. Election denialism was the "least popular position tested in the survey," and voters in "swing groups" are turned off by such claims. The election may depend on voters who reject election conspiracies.

 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY

'The persecution those witches felt hundreds of years ago feels very familiar to me.'

Stormy Daniels reflecting on her role at the center of Donald Trump's hush money trial, to The Boston Globe. A practicing witch, Daniels was in Massachusetts to accept the Salem Witches' Woman of Power Award.

 
 
the explainer

Kamala Harris' muted support for gun restrictions

Mass shootings, a depressingly common occurrence in the U.S., have generally led to greater support for more restrictive gun laws. Yet the political coalition to pursue sweeping reform has never materialized. Still, Democrats like Kamala Harris have long supported a suite of what they call "common sense" gun reforms that stop short of a wholesale revision of gun ownership rights.

A gun owner's modest reform platform
Harris stunned many liberals during her Sept. 10 debate with Republican nominee Donald Trump when she said she was a gun owner. "This business about taking everybody's guns away — Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. So stop the continuous lying," she said in response to Trump claiming that she wants to confiscate firearms. 

During her 2019 run for the White House, Harris supported mandatory assault weapons buyback programs but has since changed her position. As a U.S. senator, Harris cosponsored bills to impose a new assault weapons ban on certain kinds of rifles and require universal background checks. 

As vice president, she has backed the Biden administration's efforts to prod states into passing "red flag laws." Advocates say such laws would have prevented many suicides and mass shootings had they been in place, while critics allege that they infringe on individuals' Second Amendment rights. The 2022 bipartisan gun safety bill created a national office to implement red flag laws. It also strengthened laws to prevent domestic abusers from obtaining a firearm. 

Harris has been endorsed by all of the major gun reform advocacy groups. Her positions "represent a direct attack on the Second Amendment and will destroy your Constitutional right to bear arms," said the National Rifle Association, which has endorsed Trump. 

Quiet on the gun front
Harris has not revealed any new proposals related to firearm legislation during her 2024 campaign. In public appearances, however, she has reiterated her support for a new assault weapons ban. Assault weapons like the AR-15 used in so many American mass shootings are "literally tools of war," Harris said to ABC News. She also expressed her support for universal background checks. 

 
 

Good day 🗽

… for New York City. After being closed for renovation in 2020, the Frick Collection will reopen its historic Gilded Age mansion on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue this April. The renovated house will "come together in the public's mind in a way it never did," said director Ian Wardropper. The space will include a new suite of galleries on the previously private second floor.

 
 

Bad day 🦔

… for hedgehogs. The species has been classified as "near threatened" in Western Europe in the latest edition of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Further deterioration in the hedgehog population would list the animals at risk of extinction.

 
 
Picture of the day

Back to life

People adorned in face paint and traditional attire participate in the Walk of the Souls in Merida, Mexico, on the first of two days celebrating Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The annual procession is meant to guide the spirits of the deceased back to the realm of the living.
Hugo Borges / Getty Images

 
 
Puzzles

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

 
 
The Week recommends

Those who know, know: A good kitchen knife is an investment that betters your today and alters your future. Cooking becomes easier, and a slicing accident becomes rare. Gift one for your people who love to cook or treat yourself. 

Carbon Knife Co., Denver
More than 10 Japanese knifemakers are the stars of Carbon Knife Co.'s blade stock. The knives range from the wee (petty and paring knives) to the grand (cleavers and vegetable knives). Surround those new knives with well-made accessories like a pocketed canvas apron from Blue Cut and a plastic cutting board from Hasegawa.

Coutelier, New Orleans
Japanese knives are also the focus of Coutelier, and the stock features both single-beveled and double-beveled knives from a range of Japanese makers, including legendary multigenerational bladesmiths like Moritaka. There are American knives, too, from companies such as Town Cutler, Middleton Knives and Jamison Chopp, as well as books, bar tools and tea accessories. If it's durable, beautiful and lives in the kitchen, Coutelier just might sell it.

Korin, New York City
The stalwart, in many ways, of the good-knife retailers in the U.S., Korin has been around since 1982, long before Japanese-made kitchen knives became a cultish purchase. Over its 40-plus years in existence, the store's offerings have multiplied, as you might expect. You can order everything from a range of grit-grades of sharpening stones to ramen supplies, like bowls and spoons. And for the hard-core enthusiast, there's a high-end Yamato ramen noodle-making machine.

 
 

Poll watch

Americans earning the least amount of money are the loneliest, according to a survey from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The survey found that 29% of people earning less than $30,000 report feeling lonely, compared to 19% of people earning between $50,000 and $100,000 and 18% of people earning more than $100,000.

 
 
INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'Boeing strikers should accept latest lucrative offer'
Thomas Black at Bloomberg
Striking Boeing workers "should vote yes" on a labor agreement and "return with a mission to revitalize one of the great American manufacturers, which has been plagued by quality and safety problems," says Thomas Black. A "no vote on such a lucrative offer would indicate that union members are only seeking to damage Boeing." Americans "don't want to see the country's ability to manufacture commercial aircraft wiped out, ceding the market to Europe or even China."

'Love doesn't have to be unconditional'
Myisha Battle at Time
Many have "subscribed to the idea that romantic love is unconditional," but "sometimes love is conditional," says Myisha Battle. There are "real and valid reasons why love fades, changes shape or disappears." Love is "complicated and can be challenged by the smallest of things like personality quirks to more impactful issues like political and spiritual beliefs." Recognizing that when "conditions in the relationship change, so, too, can the love we experience is one way we can love more authentically."

'The truth about immigration? As Elon Musk shows, borders are always open for the rich'
Arwa Mahdawi at The Guardian
When is an "'illegal' immigrant not an 'illegal' immigrant? When they are a privileged white person, of course," says Arwa Mahdawi. In that case, the "correct classification is 'enterprising expat' operating in a 'legal gray area.'" Elon Musk has "amplified numerous anti-immigrant conspiracy theories" but "almost certainly worked in the U.S. without correct authorization in 1995." "One thing is clear: Immigration rules don't apply to everyone equally. Borders are always open for the rich."

 
 
WORD OF THE DAY

terroir-washing

Corporations in France are trying to rid themselves of the unchic whiff of globalization by emphasizing their use of French produce. But a report by two French think tanks said U.S. brands like Burger King exploit the notion of "le terroir" — the environmental conditions that make a foodstuff unique to the location it was produced — for instance, by topping a hamburger with a protected local cheese.

 
 

Evening Review was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Joel Mathis, Summer Meza, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz, Anahi Valenzuela and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Shutterstock / Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker / The New York Times / Bloomberg / Getty Images; Ronda Churchill / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images