Conservative economist Michael Strain, who was initially optimistic about the prospects of President Donald Trump's second term, has now found himself aghast at what he sees as the president's remarkable economic mismanagement.
In his latest column posted at Project Syndicate, Strain argues that in prior years "it would have been unfathomable for a president -- including Trump during his first term -- to inflict so much harm on the economy deliberately" as what Trump has been doing in recent weeks.
Strain singles out two initiatives as particularly alarming: Trump's antagonistic trade wars with Canada and Mexico, and the chaotic Elon Musk-led efforts to slash and burn the federal workforce.
"We are witnessing rank incompetence," he argues. "As has been widely reported, DOGE has charged into federal agencies and fired workers, only to attempt to rehire them days later when it realized how important they were. It is repeatedly posting data with significant errors about its 'spending cuts.' Clearly, there is no plan here."
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Strain also believes that Trump could be an old-school mercantilist who believes that there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world and that companies grow rich by hoarding it to themselves by having favorable trade balances with other nations.
"Trump's mercantilism helps to explain how his administration can be pursuing so many often-conflicting trade-policy goals concurrently," he explains. "Trump's actions appear more rational if you remember that he sees a lower bilateral trade deficit as a win in and of itself."
Strain then ponders a "more ominous" explanation that Trump has "bought into the MAGA view that the U.S. economy needs a fundamental, painful transformation."
