{"id":8466,"date":"2016-11-30T08:57:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T08:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=8466"},"modified":"2016-12-07T05:32:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T05:32:10","slug":"trumps-carrier-coup-reveals-credibility-gap-between-twitter-rhetoric-and-economic-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/trumps-carrier-coup-reveals-credibility-gap-between-twitter-rhetoric-and-economic-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Carrier coup reveals credibility gap between Twitter rhetoric and economic reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wesley Widmaier<\/a>, Griffith University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In a political coup, President-elect Donald Trump says<\/a> that his transition team has struck a deal with Carrier\u2019s Indianapolis plant to keep 1,000 jobs in the state. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Big day on Thursday for Indiana and the great workers of that wonderful state.We will keep our companies and jobs in the U.S. Thanks Carrier<\/p>\n

\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This builds on Trump\u2019s recent tweets directed at the air-conditioner maker and Ford<\/a>, as he sought to deliver on a campaign promise<\/a> and reverse what his populist predecessor Ross Perot termed a NAFTA-spawned \u201cgiant sucking sound<\/a>\u201d of jobs leaving the Rust Belt. <\/p>\n

To some degree, Carrier\u2019s retreat may reflect its own concern for public opinion. Reports also suggest that Trump wielded sticks and carrots. Carrier depends on the government for approximately US$5.6 billion in military sales<\/a> \u2013 a figure that dwarfs the $65 million in savings from moving the Indianapolis plant to Mexico, and executives may have had some fears of retaliation. Trump also could offer inducements \u2013 in the form of state tax breaks<\/a> (as Vice President-elect Mike Pence is still the governor of Indiana) and pledges of an easier line<\/a> on potential tax and tariff policies. <\/p>\n

Yet, while likely to result in praise, these moves raise a number of questions. How legitimate is presidential \u201cjawboning\u201d of businesses? When are such measures effective in containing market abuses or achieving legitimate broader economic ends \u2013 as opposed to ineffective acts of political theater? When do they represent abuses of political power or authority? And what are the implications for the Trump administration\u2019s broader economic policy? <\/p>\n

Trump wouldn\u2019t be the first occupant of the White House to try to bend individual companies to his will. Fortunately, economic history \u2013 and specifically an incident in 1962 I recount in a just-released book<\/a> \u2013 offers some insights into these questions and their implications if this is to be Trump\u2019s style going forward.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n President John F. Kennedy used his bully pulpit in 1962 to charge the steel industry with \u2018ruthless disregard\u2019 for raising prices.<\/span>
\n AP Photo<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JFK squares off against US steel<\/h2>\n

Speaking to the issue of legitimacy, one might ask whether Trump\u2019s stance represents a new power grab or a revival of a forgotten tradition.<\/p>\n

In fact, there exists a long tradition marked by the use of presidential rhetoric to highlight public or \u201cmacro\u201d interests in ostensibly private or \u201cmicro\u201d corporate choices. Over the past century, such public interests have found expression across Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s appeals for rail price controls<\/a>, Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s support for New Deal-era price codes<\/a> and World War II-era \u201cGeneral Max\u201d<\/a> price guidelines. <\/p>\n

This view reached its peak in the 1960s when President John F. Kennedy urged Americans<\/a> to \u201cask not what your country can do for you \u2013 ask what you can do for your country.\u201d This exhortation voiced a then-prevailing sentiment that a common good existed, one that \u201ctrumped\u201d individual choices. <\/p>\n

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