One of the less-discussed absurdities of Trump's platform is the proposed tariff on foreign-made goods, which are supposed to be sharp enough to force an increase in domestic production. In the short term, a tariff of the size the platform proposes would cause massive inflation, estimated at $1,700 per household. The effects would be so extreme that sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists
released a public statement opposing the tariff. That article estimates that it would increase expenses by an average of $1,700 per household.
Similarly, a crackdown on immigration would have massive effects on farming. An anti-immigrant law that was passed in Florida last year drove farmworkers to disappear and
left fruit rotting on the ground. Imagine that extended to the entire country, and think what would happen to food prices.
Presidential platforms almost always promise more than they can deliver; many policies are unwise, and even the most reality-based proposals will get watered down by negotiation when they reach Congress. But those in the Trump plan are so extreme and self-contradictory that they're no different from ads for miracle weight-loss cures (no changes to diet or exercise required!). But what would you expect when the candidate's prior experience is a lifelong career as a con artist?
