Rutgers Business School recently published an article by finance and economics professor and executive MBA program director Farrokh Langdana in which he surveyed two potential economic scenarios that we might see as part of Donald Trump’s presidency.
In the first and best-case scenario, is that president-elect Donald Trump was nothing more than an orange fleshy bag of hot air. In this scenario, he only makes good on one out of every 7th comment, with six out of every seven given only for the sake of “posturing to his masses.” Examples of “7th” comments from Trump include tirades against high corporate taxes, excessive government regulation or the “horrible” state of Newark’s airport. And, to be fair to Trump, Newark Liberty International is factually terrible.
In the second and obviously much more terrifying scenario, Trump’s disciples actively “hold his feet to the fire” and he makes good on six out of seven campaign promises, like building a wall along the Mexican-American border, banning Muslim immigrants from entering the country, defunding Planned Parenthood and completely eradicating the Affordable Care Act. Langdana believes the biggest challenge Trump faces is the expectation of his supporters to “deliver on all his promises.” One major example includes “distorting global trade” to shut down capital inflows, which Langdana believes will result in us being forced to retreat to “Quantitative Easing to fund our deficits.”
We can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst. In Langdana’s blog from this past April, “Donald Trump and Angry Americans” points out that both individuals and companies “show their real character when times are bad.” He concludes, “We must exhibit grace under pressure.”