"This is not a president known for thinking about the long tail effects of the decisions that he makes today," said Menendez. "I think what is startling is that he is making these decisions at a moment when Americans are really feeling the pinch. Reuters reporting Trump's approval rating has hit a new low of 36 percent. That is lower than at any time during the Biden administration. Gas prices are, in part, what is driving that approval rating."
She then expanded on the long-term ramifications of the administration's approach.
"If he is not going to think about these things now, there's an opportunity cost, I think, in all sectors of this government that we are going to have to contend with in the years to come, right?" she continued. "The dismantling of institutions that will need to be rebuilt, the strategic investments that were not made, which are then going to delay us reaping the benefits of those strategic administration, of those strategic investments. It is hard to quantify the price Americans are paying, not just now, but in the future, for the decisions that this president is making."
Wolfers responded enthusiastically to Menendez's analysis, emphasizing its importance.
"Alicia, 11 out of 10 for that one," said Wolfers, a frequent critic of the administration.
The economist then elaborated on why such considerations are fundamental.
"Like, I actually think that's the most important thing," he continued. "It's very easy for us to obsess about next quarter's numbers or ... the thing that blows up and hits the front page of the day. But if you look seriously, what is it that makes some countries rich and other countries poor? It's these long-term investments. It's these institutions. It's the way we shape the rules of the game to make sure that people invest, that people get an education, that those who invest get a payoff, that the rule of law is going to be respected. That if you start trading with a country today, you'll be able to do it again in the future. That if you invest in future technologies, that you'll you'll be able to continue to do so. And that's, at a fundamental level, what's been undermined."
Wolfers concluded with a sobering projection.
"There's a study recently that showed they looked at all the major autocrats over the last 100 years, and it showed electing an autocrat or bringing to power an autocrat tends to undermine the level of GDP by about 10 percent — but that effect occurs a generation later," said Wolfers. "So the effects of all this really are, yours and my kids are going to wake up in a world, and there'll be a set of inventions that were never invented. There were innovations that were never innovated and opportunities that simply don't exist for them that could otherwise have existed."
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