Holistically, free market capitalism will always triumph over big government socialism. 

No matter what Vice President Harris may say, she is a big government socialist, whose alleged economic plan is a classic example of big government socialism. In Pittsburgh this week, she declared that she is a capitalist, but she is most certainly not.

Noteworthy, a TIPP/Insights poll of 1,488 adults shows that 54 percent say Ms. Harris’ ideas lean toward socialism. 38 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of Republicans, 49 percent of independents. So, it’s across the board. 

And, as I’ve said many, many times, the TIPP poll has been scored as the most accurate in recent presidential elections. 

Indeed, the subtitle of the article from TIPP/Insights is: “Her holistic socialism exposes deep economic ignorance and total unpreparedness.”

Feature Ms. Harris’s holistic word salad yesterday at Pittsburgh:

 “You know, homeownership for too many people in our country now is elusive. You know, gone is the day of everyone thinking they could actually live the American dream.” 

Ms. Harris continued: “And looking holistically at the connection between that and housing, and looking holistically at the incentives … to actually engage in planning in a holistic manner.” 

She added: “Let us be inspired by what is possible,” and “Let it always inspire us.” She concluded: “And let that then inspire us by helping us to be inspired to solve the problems that so many face.”

Yesterday, she unveiled her third economic plan in her two-month long candidacy.

It was basically just a repeat of her price controls, $25,000 free money that will boost home prices even more, a $6,000 refundable child tax credit that lacks work requirements and costs over $1 trillion. 

Plus, of course, repealing the highly successful Trump tax cuts, which boosted blue-collar wages, brought down the poverty rate, and produced record-low minority unemployment.  

Ms. Harris keeps saying it only benefited the rich, which has been disproven time and again. Real wages went up 7.7 percent under President Trump, but they fell 2.1 percent under Biden-Harris. 

The only sort of new policy is $100 billion in tax credits, aimed at favored industries. Targeted tax credits never work, though. Better to let people and businesses keep their own money. They will spend it more wisely than federal bureaucrats ever could.

Biden-Harris spent trillions of dollars on targeted tax credits, subsidies, and grants and it — holistically — came to nothing. 

Please see the Wall Street Journal editorial dated September 23, 2024: “The Biden Manufacturing Boom That Isn’t.” And the subheading: “US industry output has been flat for two years, despite huge subsidies.”

They note that spending on construction of new factories has doubled from the subsidies and rich tax credits — the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act cost $1.2 trillion — but the ISM purchasing managers index for manufacturing has been declining for two years right after the IRA and CHIPS Act. 

Investment in new industrial equipment has been noticeably weaker under President Biden than Trump. 

Biden-Harris like to boast about creating 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, but, actually, virtually all of them were bounce-backs from the pandemic. 

Factually, though, manufacturing job growth has since been flat for two years — even with all the Biden-Harris spending. Under Trump, about 450,000 manufacturing jobs were created. 

And key targeted industries like semiconductors and batteries have experienced significant job losses, while real average weekly wages for manufacturing workers are 2.7 percent lower than in January 2021 when Biden-Harris came into office. 

This is why state directed assistance, whether spending or tax credits, never works. The free market, however, does work. 

Trump will lower the corporate tax rate across the board to 15 percent from 21 percent for domestic producers. He’s not going to tell them how to spend their money, or on what products or innovations or equipment.

Trump, by the way, would provide 100 percent full expensing for depreciation write-offs — Ms. Harris would end this.

She wants to raise the top corporate rate to 28 percent, making America uncompetitive in the global race for business and capital. 

And she would abolish the 199A deduction, which would destroy the roughly 26 million small businesses who could no longer deduct 20 percent of their income from taxation.

Holistically, this is all insanity. 

Yes, she worked hand in glove with Mr. Biden for nearly four years, and, yes, all that really happened was they spent a fortune to bankrupt federal finances, and got virtually nothing for it — in terms of private sector investment, jobs, and wages. It has all gone nowhere.

Oh, did I forget, the inflation rate in the past three-and-a-half years has averaged 5.7 percent annually, compared to only 1.9 percent under Trump. Cumulatively, the cost of living went up over 20 percent under Biden-Harris, and much more for daily consumer essentials. And the peak inflation rate of 9.1 percent was the highest in 40 years. 

Well, it’s true that radical Federal Reserve tightening has brought inflation down to just less than 3 percent. That is still well above the Fed’s 2 percent target, even at this late date. 

So, you know what, folks? Holistic big government socialism doesn’t work. 

And you know what else? There’s a real capitalist free-enterpriser out there who is campaigning to overturn it.

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.