Make America Work Again? Where Was GOP Economic Message on Tuesday?

Economist Dean Baker breaks down the Republican pitch to voters on improving the economy.

John Sellek

Republicans pitched voters on their economic policies during the second day of the GOP national convention… sort of. “Make America Work Again” was the theme of the night, but we didn’t hear a whole lot about the economy last night. 

Here’s House Speaker Paul Ryan, one of the few people who touched on the state of the economy:

“The problem here is very simple: there is a reason people here are disappointed and restless. If opportunity seems like it’s has been slipping away, that’s because it has… wages never seem to go up, the whole economy feels stuck… middle class security is just a memory.”

Just as viewers and convention-goers heard few details about an economic plan, so too has Trump been short on details.

“[Trump] hasn’t put a lot on the table in terms of concrete plan,” says Dean Baker, co-director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Baker says even though Trump is short on details, he has put out a couple of key ideas; tax cuts for the very wealthy, and new trade agreements. 

“There’s large sectors of the workforce that’s been hurt by trade,” says Baker. “Trump says he’s going to do something about it… he has correctly identified a problem.”

To hear more of Baker’s conversation on Detroit Today, click on the audio player above.

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