Sixteen Nobel prize-winning economists have signed a letter warning that the re-election of former United States President Donald Trump would harm the US economy and lead to higher prices for consumers.
In the letter released on Tuesday, the economists said that the Republican candidate would stoke instability and revive high inflation with his “fiscally irresponsible budgets”.
“Among the most important determinants of economic success are the rule of law and economic and political certainty. For a country like the US, which is embedded in deep relationships with other countries, conforming to international norms and having normal and stable relationships with other countries is also an imperative,” the letter said.
“Donald Trump and the vagaries of his actions and policies threaten this stability and the US’s standing in the world.”
The signatories also praised President Joe Biden’s record on the economy, including a “remarkably strong and equitable” recovery in the labour market since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While each of us has different views on the particulars of various economic policies, we all agree that Joe Biden’s economic agenda is vastly superior to Donald Trump’s,” the economists said.
“In his first four years as President, Joe Biden signed into law major investments in the U.S. economy, including in infrastructure, domestic manufacturing, and climate. Together, these investments are likely to increase productivity and economic growth while lowering long-term inflationary pressures and facilitating the clean energy transition.”
The signatories of the letter, which was first reported by Axios, include Columbia University Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Yale professor Robert Shiller and Sir Angus Deaton.
Trump and Biden, a Democrat, are running neck and neck in opinion polls ahead of their first presidential debate on Thursday.
Prospective voters, however, have repeatedly rated Trump as more trustworthy on the economy.
Trump has pledged to slash taxes, crack down on undocumented immigration, raise tariffs on imports and reverse many of Biden’s clean energy initiatives if re-elected to a second term as president.
In an ABC News/Ipsos poll released last month, respondents said they trusted Trump to do a better job on the economy and inflation than Biden by a margin of 14 percentage points.
