U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that a significant change in current economic policies could damage the American economy.
Yellen said tax cuts for higher earners “would explode the federal deficit,” repealing investments in “the industries of the future would stunt growth,” and “pursuing nontargeted, nonstrategic international economic policies would raise costs for Americans and cause global turmoil.”
She also touted the federal government’s investments in green energy, calling them “cutting-edge industries,” and praised the vaccination programs launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We then navigated additional crises, including the energy shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the U.S. Treasury secretary said. “And we made critical investments in infrastructure and manufacturing—from clean energy to semiconductors—including in training Americans for jobs in these cutting-edge industries.”
Yellen said these actions helped “reverse the pandemic’s shock to our ability to produce goods and services” and “boosted the economy’s long-run potential output.”
Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump said during an appearance at the Economic Club of New York that he would lead what he described as a “national economic renaissance” by slashing government regulations, increasing tariffs, and cutting government spending as well as corporate taxes if he were to be elected as president in November.
The Republican presidential nominee also proposed a plan to cut down on what he called wasteful government spending and said that he would tap Tesla CEO Elon Musk to head a government efficiency commission.
“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with completing a complete financial and performance audit of the federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” Trump said on Sept. 5.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Sunday that she would deliver a speech on the economy later this week. There is “more we can do to invest in the aspirations and ambitions of the American people while addressing the challenges they face,” she said.
The Democratic presidential nominee cited the high cost of home ownership and high grocery bills as examples.
“I grew up a middle-class kid and I will never forget where I came from,” the vice president said on Sunday.
