A prominent economist warned that fears of election interference under President Donald Trump pose a serious threat to America’s economy.
Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economist who hosts “Platypus Economics,” told Molly Jong-Fast in a Wednesday episode of “Fast Politics” that the biggest risks aren’t in the latest GDP or jobs numbers but in slower damage that will grow “like a slow-burning cancer, destroying a beautiful living organism.”
“What is America’s position in the world? Are we a trusted partner? Do we believe in the rule of law anymore? Are contracts enforced and enforceable?” Wolfers asked. He questioned whether businesses are shifting toward competing “at Mar-a-Lago, each competing for favors from the White House” instead of on price and quality.
Wolfers said “serious friends” have told him they’re “deeply worried about potential interference with the next election.”
“The day we become not a democracy is the day we lose the power to kick out bad politicians,” he said. “And the day that bad politicians can cement their power, that’s an enormously important economic question.”
He said he checks himself for alarmism but is increasingly convinced the country is facing “a once-in-a-lifetime attack.”
Wolfers offered one hopeful sign. Last month’s unanimous Federal Reserve vote to raise rates, which included Trump-appointed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, suggested the institution is still acting on data, he said. “The most important part of that sentence is, we looked at the data,” Wolfers said. “So that’s the institution holding.”
But he warned that the Fed’s next decision, set for October 28, lands just days before the midterms, and that waiting to “escape the president’s ire” would not be apolitical. “That’s not being apolitical, that’s serving the White House’s goals,” he said.
Wolfers named tariffs, the war in Iran and the largest budget deficit outside a war or recession in U.S. history as the three biggest threats facing American families, noting that “unlike any other moment in my life, all of the threats are coming from inside the house.”
He also said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has burned his credibility with bluster and misread the bond market. “Scotty, you’re not the market. You’re the borrower,” Wolfers said.
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