Well it is official, if by some wicked twist of fate Donald Trump becomes President of the United States in November, he will have an uphill battle in “Making America Great Again.” According to the results of an Associated Press-GfK poll, released Thursday, the vast majority of Americans say they prefer lower prices than paying a premium for “Made in U.S.A.” products. This flies in the face of Trumps’ vow to bring back millions of American jobs that have been lost because of cheaper foreign labor In the survey, participants had to choose between buying a $50 pair of pants made in another country or spending $85 for pants made in America. According to the results 67% said they would buy the cheaper pants. Interestingly enough the results were similar among the different wage classes. Most people in households earning more than 100,000 a year opted for the cheaper pair of pants – of course you don’t get rich by spending more than you have to. Apparently, only 9% of people surveyed said that they exclusively buy American-made products. So where does that leave Trump, my favorite would-be politician to bash? Up a certain creek without a paddle. As I have said before Trumps’ foreign policy will effectively kill the U.S. economy. He is proposing to start a trade and currency war, and the biggest casualties would be American consumers. I also don’t blame U.S. consumers for wanting the best deal and trying to make their paycheck stretch as far as possible. According to the Economic Policy Institute, wage growth since the 2009 has been well below historical averages. According to the institute, the growth target for nominal wages is between 3.5% and 4%. In the last employment report annual wage growth was 2.3% -- and economists were celebrating this rate!
Of course there is a simple solution that could probably increase spending on U.S. products and bring back U.S. production and that is by raising the minimum wage. Currently New York and California are looking at implementing a minimum $15 an hour wage.
Trump talks big when it comes to hiking taxes and negotiating with China and Mexico but he has been pretty silent on increasing the minimum wage for America. In fact none of the Republican candidates have supported this idea.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said that she support $12 and her opponent Bernie Sanders said that he supports the full $15.
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