Leaders | Trump’s plan for the economy

Scrimping on sense

The Republican nominee’s ideas on the economy are thoughtless and dangerous

Aug 11th 2016

FOR Donald Trump, details are not a strong suit. His policies typically fit in a tweet: build a wall, reduce Muslim immigration, make NATO allies pay for protection. That makes them easy to list but hard to fathom. His speech on August 8th, on economic policy, was an opportunity to explain at greater length how he hopes to achieve the economic boom that he promises American workers. Alas, the extra detail did not bring greater clarity. Even when sticking to a script, Mr Trump seems incapable of producing ideas of depth and rigour. His plan is more wild brainstorm than policy memo.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Scrimping on sense”