The newspaper’s final monthly poll, conducted in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, found that 44 percent of registered voters said they had confidence in the ability of Trump to deal with Economy More compared to 43 percent for Harris.
According to a report by the newspaper, these results, which come less than two weeks before the elections, represent the first time that Trump has outperformed Trump. Harris On this issue in a poll conducted by the Financial Times and the Michigan Ross Foundation.
The poll also showed that Trump had a greater lead among voters on the question of which candidate would make them better off financially. Forty-five percent chose the former Republican president — a five-point improvement from the previous month — compared with 37 percent for Harris, the Democratic vice president.
The results suggest that Harris’ economic rhetoric has run out of steam in the final stretch of an increasingly close race with Trump. The Financial Times’s poll tracker now shows that the candidates are in an almost complete tie in the swing states that will decide the outcome of the election.
Ross Business School professor Eric Gordon said:
- Harris’s economic policy proposals “provoked a great deal of disappointment and enthusiasm.”
- “If she’s going to win the election, she’s going to have to win it on other issues.”
According to the newspaper, voters’ refusal to give Harris and her boss, President Joe Biden, credit for strong economic growth and low unemployment rates has been a persistent feature of the FT-Michigan Ross poll since the first poll in November 2023.
Harris briefly edged out Trump on the economy after replacing Biden on the ticket Democratic Party This summer, however, this feature has been erased.
With less than two weeks left until Election Day on November 5, the poll highlights the biggest hurdle facing Harris. The poll consistently found that voters ranked “economic issues, such as jobs and costs of living” as the “most important issue” in determining their vote for president.
Although Harris achieved better results in opinion polls on economic issues than Biden did when he was a Democratic candidate, the party has had difficulty convincing voters that they are capable of managing the economy. When asked whether they were better off financially under a Trump or Biden presidency, 51 percent said they were “a lot” or “somewhat” better off under a Republican presidency. Only 28 percent said they were better off under a Biden presidency.
Voters continue to bemoan the rising cost of living due to the rise Inflation In 2022, which has left prices high and continues to weigh heavily on consumer sentiment.
More than three-quarters of voters cited price increases as one of the biggest sources of financial stress they face, a figure that has remained broadly consistent in the 12 months since the survey was launched.
Trump policy
For his part, the economic expert and chief economist at ACY, Dr. Nidal Al-Shaar, told the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website:
- The intense polarization in which she lives is now becoming clear United States of America Between the Democratic Left and the Republican Right, and thus the emergence of contradictions and disparities in the policies proposed by both parties.
- One of the strong factors in the Trump campaign is the focus on the populist nationalist aspect, playing on the string of “America First,” and benefiting from the experience of former President Reagan in arousing nationalist sentiment and considering it the primary determinant of winning the presidency.
- Although he (Trump) knows full well that some of these policies cannot be implemented in reality. An example of this is the protectionist policies that he intends to follow in imposing customs duties on all products imported from abroad, especially from China, as he intends to impose duties of up to 60 percent.
- He knows that this will lead to an increase in the general level of prices and weaken the purchasing power of individuals, all under the slogan of returning production domestically and securing the next stage for the Americans, despite his knowledge that creating an alternative to foreign goods, especially Chinese ones, is not an easy or immediate matter, and will inevitably lead to a rise in prices. Another increase in the prices of American products due to the rise in the prices of foreign products.
- This difference in price between foreign and domestic products will allow American companies to raise their prices, and thus there will be no escape from higher inflation rates.
He explained that “Trump’s popular incubator contains many elderly and retired people, in addition to racially conservative people with a low cultural level, who are easily attracted to… National slogansFor example, there are many Americans who believe that Trump’s hostile policies toward immigrants are correct, because they believe that banning and expelling immigrants will open job opportunities for Americans, forgetting that many American companies depend on foreign and immigrant labor for production.”
He stressed that Trump is characterized by a unique combination of… Business intelligence Spontaneity and randomness, and sometimes hostility and confrontation, and he is fully aware of how and when to change his policy and positions if he feels that they are about to fail. This is what he did with digital currencies, as he was against them at first, but now he has become a partner in them.
According to the slogan, Trump is trying in this period to reduce public confidence in the Democrats’ ability to manage the economy, taking advantage of the significant rise in inflation rates in the past two years, in addition to the very bad geopolitical situation, starting from the war in Ukraine and Russia to Israel’s war on Gaza. And all of this happened during the Biden era, so Trump presents himself as a man of peace capable of achieving peace globally and thus sparing the United States from engaging in foreign wars and conflicts and focusing on investing at home instead of sending support and funding abroad. This type of speech aims to tickle Americans’ feelings toward nationalism. And increasing patriotism, and Trump portrays himself as the pioneer of this feeling and the loyal person who will restore America stronger in the world.
Harris and Trump policies
Trump insisted that he would work to reduce Living costs By reducing prices Energy And taxes Such as those imposed on tips and overtime for hourly workers and benefits for senior citizens.
Harris — who often describes her experiences growing up in a “middle-class” or middle-income family — has proposed an “opportunity economy” focused on less affluent families that would include a tough federal crackdown on price hikes and subsidies for first-time homebuyers. times and small businesses.
The aforementioned poll indicated that some of Harris’ messages in this regard resonate, as 49 percent of voters said that she represents the interests of the middle class better, while 37 percent said that Trump represents them better. Voters also believe the vice president better represents the interests of small businesses, blue-collar workers and union members.
It was considered Trump – Who pledged to reduce the tax rate on Companies From 21 to 15 percent – better representing the interests of big business and the wealthy.
But the Republican also made tariff protection a central focus of his economic rhetoric, pledging to impose heavy tariffs on everything from cars to consumer products manufactured abroad.
The poll showed that while a majority of voters agreed with the need to increase customs duties on goods coming from China either “significantly” or “to some extent,” the largest percentage of voters opposed increasing customs duties on imports from other countries.
Economic factors
In turn, the head of the global markets department at Cedra Markets, Joe Yarak, stated in exclusive statements to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website that:
- Trump has a significant lead in the polls over Kamala Harris, mainly due to his economic policies.
- While there are concerns regarding the impact Customs tariffs Which he proposes, but these concerns may be in the interest of the American economy, as they will protect it from some challenges, especially when related to goods coming from Mexico. And China Or other countries.
- This approach is a double-edged sword; It may lead to higher prices for the consumer, but in return it will support American economy.
He adds: Trump, as a businessman who loves markets, generally supports various economic sectors such as: Oil companies And banks. Even with the imposition of tariffs, we see it supporting American companies, including the… electricity. His policies also emphasize reducing interest rates and large government spending, which enhances economic activity and strengthens the economy, although it may lead to increased inflation, which is what the US Federal Reserve is trying to confront. We should not forget that Trump, through his economic policies, directly supports companies by reducing taxes on profits, as he has already reduced them from 35 to 21 percent, and there is a tendency to reduce them to 15 percent.
Polls vary
Despite the results of the Financial Times poll, other opinion polls indicate that Donald Trump has lost his advantage over Kamala Harris in terms of who is best qualified to manage the economy. With millions of voters casting their early ballots in… Presidential elections Ahead of Election Day on November 5, a new poll from The Associated Press and NORC Foundation shows that Harris, the Democratic nominee, has a slight lead when it comes to some key economic issues that matter to middle-class voters.
According to the newspaper, this result reinforces a trend from the same poll last month, which showed that Harris almost succeeded in closing the previous large deficit with Trump, the former US president and Republican candidate, over who can better deal with economic issues. This is at a time when the economy always remains at the top of voters’ list of priorities.
The latest poll asked more detailed questions than the previous poll, finding that 46 percent favored Harris’ policies on middle-class taxes, compared to 35 percent who favored Trump. The US Vice President also has a slight advantage on the cost of housing, while voters are evenly divided over which of them has better policies on grocery and gasoline prices, creating jobs or addressing unemployment.
This boost for Harris comes even as a majority of voters, 62 percent, believe the economy is in bad shape, compared to 38 percent who say the opposite. The outlook is more positive compared to October last year, when nearly three out of four people said that… Economy In bad condition.
The Trump campaign has long sought to make inflation and the rising cost of living a focal point of its criticism of his presidency Joe Biden. Since Harris replaced Biden as the Democrats’ nominee in July, she has launched a counterattack that includes putting “opportunity economy” proposals at the center of her campaign message — including a pledge to give first-time buyers a $25,000 down payment on a new home.
