16 Nobel Prize-winning economists say Trump policies will fuel inflation

Nobel prize-winning economists warn of economic consequences if Donald Trump wins U.S. Presidential election in November.

Sixteen Nobel prize-winning economists signed a letter on Tuesday warning that the U.S. and world economy will suffer if Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump wins the U.S. Presidential election in November.

The jointly-signed letter, first reported by Axios, says the economic agenda of U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is ‘vastly superior’ to Mr. Trump’s, the former Republican President seeking a second term.

The economists say Mr. Trump’s economic plans would reignite inflation, in part because of his pledge to impose stiffer tariffs on Chinese imports, which they say will hike prices on many goods bought by U.S. consumers.

“While each of us has different views on the particulars of various economic policies, we all agree that [Mr.] Joe Biden’s economic agenda is vastly superior to [Mr.] Donald Trump,” the economists state in their letter.

“We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the U.S.’s economic standing in the world, and a destabilising effect on the U.S.’s domestic economy.”

The letter was signed by prominent economists, including Joseph Stiglitz, who won the Nobel prize for economics in 2001, and Sir Angus Deaton, a 2015 economic Nobel laureate.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump are locked in a close election race. The November 5 contest will be decided by voters in a handful of battleground States which are closely contested because their voting preferences can swing to Republicans or the Democrats.