The Economy – Two Differing Ways to Grow the Economy and Create Shared Prosperity

Baker Donelson
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Outside of their widely divergent tax plans, Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump emphasize similar issues when discussing their priorities for economic development, including denunciation of Wall Street and the need for more widely shared prosperity. Both candidates also support new investments in infrastructure and express discomfort with increased trade and investment liberalization. However, they proscribe differing solutions to boost the economy.

Infrastructure – Clinton
Secretary Clinton has elected to make infrastructure investment one of the primary planks of her economic platform and has pledged to send a $275 billion infrastructure plan to Congress during her first 100 days in office, which, according to the campaign, will create roughly 3.6 million new jobs. The plan would use revenue from the proposed business tax overhaul to pay for new projects ($250 billion) and create an infrastructure bank ($25 billion). Both additional spending and the creation of an infrastructure bank have long been priorities of congressional Democrats, but have failed to garner support in the Republican-controlled Congress. Secretary Clinton has also called for the reauthorization of the Build America bonds program, which expired at the end of 2010. Secretary Clinton has not called for raising the gas tax to fund infrastructure and transportation investment.

Infrastructure – Trump
Donald Trump has called for the creation of an infrastructure rebuilding program to repair roads, airports, bridges, water systems and the power grid. He said the plan will cost between $500 billion and $1 trillion and will create 13 million jobs – a figure that originates with the Senate Budget Committee's estimate of how many workers it would take to fully modernize the nation's infrastructure. In order to pay for the spending, Mr. Trump has said the program would be funded through debt-financed spending, lifting restrictions on energy production and using the resulting tax revenue, as well as setting up a fund where private investors could help pay for the projects. Mr. Trump has also vowed to complete infrastructure projects faster and for less money.

Wages – Clinton
During the long, fractious primary election campaign, the intra-party Democratic debate over raising the minimum wage took center stage. Senator Sanders, in line with many progressive activists, called for an increase in the national minimum wage from $7.25 per hour, where it has been since 2009, to $15 per hour. For many months Secretary Clinton argued that the minimum wage should be raised but resisted the call for $15 per hour. Eventually, Secretary Clinton announced her support for a $12 federal minimum wage with states and cities free to set higher floors if they wish. The Democratic Party platform adopted at this summer's convention backs a federal $15 per hour minimum wage to be implemented "over time."

Wages – Trump
Over the course of the campaign, Mr. Trump's position on the federal minimum wage has shifted. In November 2015, Mr. Trump said that wages were "too high," but in December he said he did not "know how people make it on $7.25 an hour" and expressed his desire to raise the minimum wage. He later went on to say it should be left up to the states and then stated he would be willing to trade a minimum wage increase in exchange for Democratic support for one or more of his other policy priorities.

In late July 2016, Mr. Trump broke with congressional Republicans and called for an increase in the federal minimum wage to "at least $10." The Republican platform says that people are struggling in an economy that "has become unnecessarily weak with stagnant wages" and says the minimum wage "is an issue that should be handled at the state and local level."

Technology and Cybersecurity – Clinton
Secretary Clinton has said she seeks to build on the achievements of the Obama Administration and supports policies that position the government as an active partner alongside the technology industry in developing and implementing policy initiatives. As such, Secretary Clinton would expand investment in public-private partnership to encourage cybersecurity innovation and has called for the launch of a "Manhattan-like project" in which the tech community and law enforcement partner to develop encrypted communications standards together.

In particular, Secretary Clinton is focused on supporting technology policy that accomplishes social policy goals, such as supporting economic opportunities among disadvantaged communities. This includes new investments in technical education as well as additional federal support for technology-related programs, such as federal technology research and increased access to broadband Internet. Secretary Clinton is also broadly supportive of additional regulations in the industry, including implementation of net neutrality and additional data privacy safeguards, and a renewed focus on antitrust enforcement. Secretary Clinton has also said she would appoint a Chief Innovation Officer within the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Technology and Cybersecurity – Trump
Mr. Trump has not yet articulated a vision on technology and cybersecurity policy. Broadly, Mr. Trump supports the elimination of regulations that are harmful to job creation, but which exact regulations are envisioned remains unclear. Mr. Trump supports overturning the FCC's Open Internet Order, tweeting that "Obama's attack on the Internet is another top down power grab." Mr. Trump has argued that the U.S. has obsolete cybersecurity capabilities and that we are falling behind other countries in our ability to prevent and respond to cyber attacks.

Takeaway: Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump share the end goals of growing the economy and creating more shared prosperity. They also both express distrust of Wall Street. However, the candidates offer vastly differing tax and infrastructure financing development plans. Secretary Clinton aligns with her party in calling for raising the federal minimum wage. Mr. Trump's position on a federal minimum wage has shifted but he now calls for a federal minimum wage increase to "at least $10.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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