Krugman says it’s not just Trump who’s an ignoramus, but his economic advisors, too: why, they seem to think a foreign VAT (value-added tax) hurts US exporters. We investigate, and turns out these guys are against fiscal and monetary stimulus — how bad could they be? Yes, there are some problems in the Trump white paper, but there’s a lot of good in it, too. And its key fallacy on trade accounting is something Krugman himself has pushed in other contexts.

Krugman Column

“VAT of Deplorables” (Sept. 28, 2016)

Contra Columns

“Thoughts On Trump’s 1995 Tax Return,” by Bob Murphy
“Krugman Falls into the Keynesian Accounting Trap,” by Bob Murphy
“The Economic Effects of Unlocking Federal Lands,” (The Institute for Energy Research)

White Paper Discussed

“Scoring the Trump Economic Plan: Trade, Regulatory, & Energy Policy Impacts” (PDF) by Peter Navarro and Wilbur Ross

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