After years of a global economic crisis triggered by the pandemic, the U.S. economy under Biden and Harris has rebounded better than any economy in the world.
Job growth has been very strong and exceeds pre-pandemic levels by 2.7 million. Mortgage rates have declined one and a half percentage points over the past year. The stock market keeps setting new all-time highs this October.
However, the public continues to largely feel the economy is not all that good. Voters are especially concerned about inflation and housing prices. The inflation problem has been solved; the U.S. is currently running a world-best inflation rate of about 2.5%. However, prices still feel high because of increases in 2022 and 2023. Every country all over the world experienced higher inflation during those years. We were no exception – though we have come out of it far more quickly than other countries like us. Housing costs are also stretching the average homeowner and preventing many prospective buyers from entering the market. American consumers can’t feel that great about their economy when costs they’re facing seem so high.
So: what specific policy proposals have been offered by Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to help taxpayers and families make ends meet and possibly own a home?
Harris
Harris has announced several proposals to bring down costs for American families. She has vowed to ban price gouging, set clear rules so big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers, and impose strict new penalties for companies that don’t follow the rules. Harris and Biden have already capped the cost of insulin at $35 and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs at $2000 for seniors, and she pledges to make that true for all Americans.
Harris has proposed a subsidy of $25,000 for home buyers with additional help for first-generation home buyers. She established a goal of building three million affordable homes over a four-year period, expanding the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), and creating new tax credits for various development projects in lower-income communities called Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit (NHTC). Harris has also proposed a $40 billion fund to promote innovation in housing construction.
According to a comprehensive analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact, Vice President Harris’s plan would increase the debt by $3.5 trillion through 2035.
Trump
Trump says he would slow inflation and lower consumer prices overall by cutting income taxes, raising tariffs, deporting immigrants, and curbing the independence of the Federal Reserve but has provided few details for any of these proposals. Where there is enough detail to analyze the likely impact, experts actually predict higher costs for consumers (Trump’s tariffs alone will cost US households about $2,600 each, according to the Tax Policy Center of the Brooking Institute) and a slower growth rate for the nation.
Trump has promoted tax incentives for first-time homebuyers such as tax deductions for mortgage interest. He has also pledged to eliminate regulations in the building process – making developers happy, but very likely leading to weakly designed structures at a time when fires, hurricanes, and floods make solid construction vital. Trump has also stated that he would ban mortgages for undocumented immigrants and reduce immigration, which he feels has driven up housing costs (though experts disagree).
Based on the same analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, former President Trump’s plan would increase the debt by $7.5 trillion, more than double the amount of Vice President Harris’s.
Since the late 1980s, job growth has been tremendously higher under Democratic presidents than under Republican presidents, including Trump – the first US President, in fact, to exit office with fewer jobs than when he entered.
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