Why would anyone choose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton? I'll tell you why. Because for a large part of America, Clinton represents everything that they think is wrong with modern capitalism. As every email revelation of the last few months has shown, she is part of the great round of crony capitalism a key part of a world of elites cosying up together as they run commercial and central banks, big companies and even bigger governments.
Fairly or unfairly, you can connect her with all the things that the "elites" are under fire for. Think of the transfer of wealth that comes from low interest rates and quantitative easing; of the way in which the chief executives of big companies pay more attention to their own multi-million-dollar pay packets than to long-term shareholders, to growth and to sustainability; of low wages (note that in this week's election several states voted to raise the minimum wage); of uncontrolled immigration; and of the kind of relentlessly open globalisation that appears to pay more attention to the needs of corporations than it does to their workers.
Trump might be a rich New Yorker and one who doesn't look particularly presidential. But he doesn't stand for these things. As strategist Pippa Malmgren points out, people think he stands for a capitalism that is less skewed to the big and more to the small. We've been writing here for years about the way in which modern elites were likely to get their comeuppance.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
If they didn't have a go at fixing some of the distortions seemingly baked into modern capitalism, we said, eventually the voters will elect someone they think can. Change or you will be changed. Our own Brexit vote was part of that. And so is America's vote. Think of it as less a vote for a man you don't approve of than a vote against a system you don't approve of.
The question now is whether the change Trump brings will make things better or worse. The knee-jerk assumption of most of the British press is worse, much worse. But look at his actual policies and it is hard to see just what is so very scary. Trump's fiscal policies are pretty pro-growth. He says he wants to cut corporate tax rates to 15%; to allow repatriation of corporate cash held overseas in a one-off amnesty; and to spend $1trn on improving America's genuinely awful infrastructure.
On trade he veers towards protectionism or rather away from complicated trade deals. That's not necessarily a good thing but it makes him no different to every other politician in the US (and to quite a lot in Europe) at the moment. And he wants less regulation all round, something that tends to be good for small companies. This might all end up being inflationary (see John Stepek and Matthew Partridge's take on the whole thing) and it might mark the last gasp of the great bond bubble. But, as global stockmarkets have also noticed, it does not represent the end of the world. No hysteria required.
-
Beat the cost of living crisis – go on holidayEditor's letter As inflation rages, energy bills soar and the pound tanks, what’s a good way to save money this winter? Go on holiday, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How capitalism has been undermined by poor governanceEditor's letter Capitalism’s “ruthless efficiency” has been undermined by poor governance, a lack of competition and central banks’ over-enthusiastic money printing, says Andrew Van Sickle.
-
Don't be scared by economic forecastingEditor's letter The Bank of England warned last week the UK will tip into recession this year. But predictions about stockmarkets, earnings or macroeconomic trends can be safely ignored, says Andrew Van Sickle.
-
The biggest change in the last 17 years – the death of the “Greenspan put”Editor's letter Since I joined MoneyWeek 17 years ago, says John Stepek, we’ve seen a global financial crisis, a eurozone sovereign debt crisis , several Chinese growth scares, a global pandemic, and a land war in Europe. But the biggest change is the death of the “Greenspan put”.
-
The wolf returns to the eurozone’s doorEditor's letter The eurozone’s intrinsic flaws have been exposed again as investors’ fears about Italy’s ability to pay its debt sends bond yields soaring.
-
Things won't just return to normal – that's not how inflation worksEditor's letter You might think that, if inflation is indeed “transitory”, we just need to wait and everything will return to “normal”. But this is a grave misunderstanding of how inflation works, says John Stepek.
-
Car hire and the strangeness of the post-pandemic economyEditor's letter A global shortage of hire cars and unusually high hotel occupancy rates sum up the post-pandemic global economy in a nutshell, says Merryn Somerset Webb, with enhanced demand meeting restricted supply.
-
Why we need to get a grip on our governmentEditor's letter Our government is trying to do too much, enacting policies that are destructive to the private sector. It needs to drop the the feel-good nonsense and create policies that lead to long-term wealth, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
