Dem
47
GOP
53
One of the items high in Trump's to-do list is replace Bidenomics with MAGAnomics. What is that, actually? Trump doesn't understand much about macroeconomics, but he does know that personnel is policy. Trump has picked Stephen Miran to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and we know what Miran wants because he has published papers saying exactly what he wants. Now he will be in a position to implement his ideas. Here is a brief rundown of them.
First, Miran is clearly focused on supply-side economics, not demand-side economics. He wants policies that will cause companies to invest in new factories. These include permitting reform so spotted owls cannot block factories, eliminating (environmental) regulations that hamper development, tariffs to protect weak industries, subsidies to favored companies, etc.
Second, he is hostile to electric cars and regulations helping labor, as well as other regulations that big business does not like—for example, OSHA rules that protect the health and safety of workers. He sees them as impediments to domestic manufacturing. We're not so sure about the opposition to electric cars, though, until we have heard it from the mouth of Co-President-elect Musk.
Third, there is a range of specific rules he doesn't like, many of them coming from the EPA. He also opposes the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires that government contractors pay the prevailing wage in the area of the project. He also opposes provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that he sees as blue meat and detract from the program. For example, chip manufacturers are required to provide daycare for their employees. He doesn't see how mandating daycare improves chip efficiency. If Intel wants to provide free daycare to attract more workers, that should be its own business decision, not a government mandate whose (subtle) purpose is to help women (who might take jobs from working-class men).
Again, many of the things Miran wants require Congress to enact laws, repeal laws, or modify laws. When John Thune asks Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to repeal the requirement that chip manufacturers provide daycare, Schumer is likely to say: "What do I get in return for this?" "Making Trump happy" will not be a good answer. (V)