Trump Team's Final Pitch: Higher Prices Are Good
Donald Trump’s advisers frantically try to spin the cost of food and gas as Americans head to the polls. The Trump administration’s final pitch to voters on Election Day seems to be that higher prices are a good thing.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Newsmax Tuesday afternoon that the United States was “going to have record exports this year for corn and wheat and cotton and other incredible American industries while those prices are rising. So we’ve made so much progress.”
However, Rollins’s prediction that exports will go up while prices rise seems presumptive, as people tend to buy less of a product when prices are high. And corn exports are actually down this year compared to previous years.
Chris Wright, Energy Secretary, also touted high prices as positive during an appearance on Fox Business Tuesday morning:
"This is what capitalism is all about. The markets are sending that price mechanism right now. Prices are high. The best cure for high prices is high prices. It grows supply."
Wright didn’t mention that high prices grow supply because fewer products are being purchased, which isn’t good for businesses or the economy. The American consumer is finding it harder to make ends meet, and their disposable income doesn’t go as far. Consumer confidence has massively declined this year due to the Iran war and the president’s whimsical tariffs, and people are expected to make that known in the voting booth.