Economy
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in September, 81% of registered voters said the economy is the top issue in the 2024 election. However, opinions differ on the best approach for economic growth.
Senior Max Beach said he supports the conservative economic values of trickle-down economics.
“The government should be as laid back and out of it as possible,” Beach said. “Tax rates should be low, and people should have the ability to freely spend their money.”
During President Biden’s term, inflation reached a 40-year high, peaking at 9.1% in June 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, prices for essential goods like groceries, gas and housing have soared, leaving many Americans feeling stretched thin.
Steven Vogel, University of California, Berkeley Chair of Political Economy said the inflation surge was largely a consequence of the economic shutdown during COVID-19.
“If you come out of a pandemic and people have been buying nothing, then suddenly, they can come out of their houses and start buying stuff, prices are gonna boom, right?” Vogel said. “Particularly because you have supply chain bottlenecks again because of the pandemic, so that’s just an act of nature.”
In response to the pandemic, the Trump administration passed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and the Biden-Harris administration implemented the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, both aimed at economic relief.
Vogel said he thinks the American Rescue Plan was necessary, even though it contributed to inflation.
“The stimulus package contributed to inflation, that’s true, but I think that was the right thing to do to get us out of the pandemic,” Vogel said.
According to Forbes, Biden has done well on other metrics, adding approximately 11.3 million jobs in his first three years — outpacing the 6.5 million jobs created in the same timeframe under Trump. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation is now down to 2.4% as of Oct. 10.
Cynthia Kaui, spokesperson for the California Young Republican Federation said Trump is the only candidate who understands the economic struggles young people face.
“Why do a lot of young Republicans really care (about) Trump and Vance’s platform?” Kaui said. “(Vance) understands not only having to live paycheck to paycheck, but being able to have that extra each month to save and to be able to do a little bit more than just surviving.”
But Vogel said he still thinks Harris’ policies are more promising compared to Trump’s, whose plans center around raising tariffs.
“Harris, I think, is going to continue some of the best (economic) policies of Biden,” Vogel said. “In some areas, she’ll do more – in some areas she’ll do less, but the comparison with Trump is just night and day. You have the worst president ever versus somebody who promises to be an excellent president.”
However, Vogel said it is a common misconception that the economy was better under Trump than under Biden.
“Why do Americans think the Trump economy was better, even though it wasn’t?” Vogel said. “Probably the number one reason is that with Biden, you got inflation.”
