What you told us a Trump economy should look like
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What you told us a Trump economy should look like
We’ve talked a lot today about what the economy could look like under a Donald Trump presidency and what Americans should expect.
To see how folks are feeling after the election, we asked people Marketplace met over the last year what they anticipate or what they would like to see change in their personal economies. Maybe not surprisingly, we got a lot of different answers. Words like “scared” and “hurtful” popped up, describing their fears of what a Trump presidency means for them. But, others hoped a businessman at the helm could lead to a more prosperous country. Here’s a look at a few of their answers:
Adam Abdullahi, Minneapolis
Adam Abdullahi, a taxi driver originally from Somalia who now lives in Minneapolis, said he hasn’t seen any change in the last two presidencies, but he’s hoping for better.
“Right now the economy of America is not good. A lot of people, [they’re] complaining — a lot of people [don’t] have full-time jobs, they don’t have that,” he said. “But I wish the economy will be better than today.”
Jessica Longstreet, Pennsylvania
One of Trump’s core campaign platforms was bringing back white-collar factory jobs. Jessica Longstreet from Pennsylvania isn’t so sure that can or should happen.
“I think a lot of people expect him to make more jobs in America with factories, but I just don’t think that’s going to work because we’re not equipped for that. With the minimum wage being so high, the cost is going to be too high to produce things in the USA, so I think keeping it overseas is a better idea for our economy.”
Kyle Mogensen, Andover, Minnesota
Kyle Mogensen from Andover, Minnesota sat out of voting during a Presidential election for the first time in his life, but he still has thoughts on what needs to change.
“Taking care of immigration. Get rid of them, if they’re not here legally. We don’t need it because they’re taking our jobs. I’m a union worker, they’re taking our union work. They’re coming over here and doing more work for less pay and their quality isn’t as good. There’s a lot of Mexican immigrants that are getting paid cash under the table. It’s hurting our union.”
Beth Hostad, Ramsey, Minnesota
Financial analyst Beth Hostad has three kids, including an 8-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome. She’s unclear what a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act could mean for health care.
“Economic issues? Well, I know a lot of people are worried about health care and now I’m worried about how many people aren’t going to have it. I have a daughter who has Down syndrome and I worry about what benefits will not be available to her any longer. I know everybody says Donald Trump is a great businessman. I look at how many times he filed bankruptcy, I look at how many people he didn’t pay, and I wonder what happens when he does that with our country. I wonder what’s going to happen then.”
Anthony Liga, Sarasota, Florida
Anthony Liga, a financial planner from Sarasota, Florida, is optimistic about what a Trump presidency could bring when it comes to jobs.
“What resonated with me was a solution of basically finding a way, a realistic way of getting the current leadership out of the way of the economy. As an example, the [Keystone XL] pipeline. The pipeline should have been enacted a long time ago, would have created thousands of jobs — really been a boost to the economy. And for whatever reason, because of Obama’s cronies or pandering to the environmentalists, the pipeline was not enacted and this is after unions and much of his constituency was begging for it. He basically shelved it, and that was a huge stimulus to the economy that wasn’t enacted. And then of course Obamacare, which has just strangled business. Businesses that didn’t have the wherewithal to pay the high premiums for themselves or their workers, it was just a way of dampening the business industry. In listening to him wanting to get rid of Obamacare, and wanting to get the EPA out of everyone’s life, those were the things that attracted him to me.”
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