Pretty amazing that in a 90-minute debate, ABC never asked a single question about two of the most financially momentous issues of our time: 1) the $35 trillion debt, and 2) Kamala Harris's disastrous $5 trillion tax hike. They asked one question about the economy – the very first one of the debate – and she dodged it.
But Trump blew it by not pressing these issues in every answer.
Political debates have drifted towards formats that showcase the hosts more than the candidates.
Our humble suggestion for future debates: no moderators. Alternating speeches and cross-examination periods in which the candidates question each other.
Free Child care: Kamala cosponsored S. 1806, the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would create new federal entitlement programs for child care. Cost: $600 billion over the next decade.
Free parental leave: Kamala supported a plan to create a government-mandated parental leave, which she would have paid for by imposing new payroll taxes on families.
Free Health Care: In 2019, then-Presidential candidate Harris rolled out her Medicare for All proposal, which included coverage for more than 11 million illegal immigrants. Projected to cost $44 trillion over ten years.
Free College: In 2017 Harris was an original cosponsor of Bernie Sanders' plan for free college, S.806, College for All Act of 2017. Cost: $600 billion over the next decade.
Free Child Rearing Expenses: Harris proposed Expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and making it fully refundable (a cash grant) of up to $6,000 in first year of life. Cost: $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
Free Down payment on Home Purchase: Kamala would provide a tax credit of up to $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, further boosting demand for home ownership and lead to higher home prices. Cost: $100 billion over the next decade.
We will stop there because we're exhausted.
Anyone got a $10 trillion bill blowing a hole in their pocket to pay for all this? Or maybe they are planning to mint some of those trillion-dollar platinum coins.
3) New Census Bureau Report: Americans Are Still Poorer Today than Before COVID
Another issue that didn't come up at all in the debate is the decline of working-class family incomes.
You wouldn't know it from the celebratory headlines, but real median household income under Biden has still not reached its 2019 level. And getting back to 2019 would hardly be good news for Americans who have come to expect growth in their purchasing power over time.
As the chart shows, the 2023 median income of $81,610 is still $600 lower than 2019 and is almost $3,000 lower than what median income would be at just 2% growth from 2020.
The latest Census report shows that EVERY racial/ethnic group including whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians had higher income growth under Trump than Biden.
Meanwhile, one of the key measures of poverty shows that overall poverty and child poverty are higher now than when Trump was president.
4) Fed Scales Back "Basel III Endgame" Capital Requirements
We don't know whether our UP study by Stephen Moore and David Malpass on the proposal made the difference, but we did submit it to the Fed, and Michael Barr, the Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, has dramatically changed his tune.
The once chief cheerleader for the most heavy-handed possible approach, Barr sounded like he was paying attention to our warnings in his speech at Brookings yesterday:
But capital has costs too. As compared to debt, capital is a more expensive source of funding to the bank. Thus, higher capital requirements can raise the cost of funding to a bank, and the bank can pass higher costs on to households, businesses, and clients engaged in a range of financial activities. These activities are critical to a well-functioning economy that works for everyone.
This is a partial victory. The new version still increases aggregate capital requirements – but by 9% instead of the originally proposed 19%.
At the same time the Biden administration says it wants more loans for mortgages and small businesses, and its regulators are enacting new rules to inhibit bank lending.
Two quick videos from four of our favorites explaining the obvious reasons Biden (and the winner of Kamala v. Trump) should rethink blocking a massive investment in US Steel that could revitalize US production and make us more competitive with China:
