Tennessee WordSmith: A Liberal Dose December 5, 2024 "The Truth About the Economy"

A Liberal Dose

December 5, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“The truth about the economy”

This week I’m going to talk again about what I think the Democratic Party needs more of going forward: economic populism. I do not mean for that to replace championing the rights of oppressed groups, as some people are calling for, but rather for it to be something that is done as much, as often, and as strongly as championing oppressed groups. You cannot do one of those two things and neglect the other and still be an effective force for a strong and diverse society.

Let’s start by looking at some history. Study after study has shown that the economy improves more, and faster, under Democratic leadership than under Republican. This is because Republicans often make the economy worse, primarily by drastically cutting taxes on the wealthy. Will Rogers pointed out almost a century ago that Democrats get into office by promising to clean up Republicans’ messes, and when they are too slow in doing so they get kicked out and the Republicans are brought back in to undo what progress was made. This is exactly what just happened to the Biden/Harris administration. When Trump left office there was record unemployment and the economy was on the verge of collapse. Under Biden unemployment went down, wages went up, the stock market went up… but the average American didn’t feel it, because of inflation. Supply interruptions caused by Covid caused inflation to skyrocket, as did energy fears over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the last year or two, as various other economic indicators have been very positive, inflation has stopped going up at a precipitous rate… but that didn’t help people much, since the prices that had gone so high did not come down. So instead, voters chose to return to the guy who expedited everything crashing in the first place, and that is going to prove a very unwise idea.

Assuming that his narrow victory is a mandate, Trump is going to overreach very quickly. He has already started doing so, and he is not even in office yet. Quite a few Trump voters are going to be dismayed at some of the draconian steps he takes as soon as he gets into the White House, as their primary motivation in voting for him was inflation and not social warfare. Most of his voters, though, are going to be fine with all that. What they will not be fine with, and what is going to take them by surprise, is the fact he will once again run the economy into the ground, especially if he follows through on his promises about tariffs and mass deportations. Prices are going to go up, not down, over the next two years. Let’s mark it: this week the national average for gas is $3.01 per gallon, the average price for eggs at the time of the election was $3.37, and the average price of milk was $4.04. Average rent is $1559 per month, average home price $501,100, average vehicle price $48,397 (all those prices are going to be lower in rural Tennessee). Unemployment is at 4.1%. We do not yet know the 2024 poverty rate, as the year is not over, but as soon as we have it, let’s mark it and compare it to a year later. Let’s all check in on these markers in December of 2025.

By the midterms two years from now, there is going to be some buyers’ remorse. Democrats have a good chance to make substantial gains in Congress, and two years later to take back the White House. But only if they carry forth the right message. The message cannot be “I told you so.” The message cannot be “you’re stupid.” The message has to be “The Democratic Party cares about YOU, as much as about anybody else.” It has to be this: “The middle class and the working class have to all band together, along with empathetic wealthy people, against the fat cats who want to divide us in order to take even more money.” The Bible says the LOVE of money is the root of all evil, not money itself. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with being well-off. Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were all raised in wealth and luxury… but they all had empathy for the working people of America, and sought to help them, not to use them.

Too many liberals have lost empathy for the working class, or the ability to identify with them, and it shows. There is a sense of condescension for what was once one of the largest parts of the Democratic base. But there are plenty of union workers out there organizing, and showing us how to get things done. The rest of the Democratic Party needs to start following their lead.

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE