Since receiving the Democratic nomination in the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside in the 2024 American presidential race, Vice-President Kamala Harris has been striving to define her own policy platform to attract voters in the limited time remaining before the November 5th election. Since the economy is a central issue for American voters, Harris developed several propositions in that area.
- Though most macroeconomic indicators are positive after four years of the Biden administration, Americans tend to trust Republicans more than Democrats on the economy. This sentiment was compounded by Kamala Harris’s lack of concrete economic policy until the release of an 80-page document on September 23rd.
- Harris strives to differentiate herself from Biden’s legacy and Trump’s economic program. Her plan is both pro-middle class and pro-business, with numerous measures on housing, child tax credit, healthcare, small businesses and grocery prices; and a detailed project for developing critical industry and innovation.
- Following Trump’s 2017 tax reform, Harris proposes not to increase taxes on Americans earning up to 400,000 dollars, while ensuring the wealthiest individuals and companies pay more.
- Critics point to a lack of details on clean energy as well as trade and technology policies vis-à-vis China. They also express concern over the cost of her program though it would be less costly than Trump’s plans, which incluse levying less taxes on the wealthy and corporations and imposing massive tariffs on importer goods.
About the authors:
Laurence Nardon is a Research Fellow and Head of the Americas Program at Ifri.
Abigail Labreck is a Research Intern for the Head of the Americas Program at Ifri.