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Yet Another Open Letter to Trump

Mr. Donald Trump
President, Executive Branch
United States Government
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Mr. Trump:

Two days ago you tweeted “Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!”

I write not to question your questionable expression of thanks to the Saudis but, instead, to ask some questions:

– Because you correctly understand that we Americans are more prosperous the lower are the prices we pay on global markets for oil, why do you not understand that we Americans are more prosperous the lower are the prices we pay on global markets for other goods such as steel, aluminum, automobiles, and washing machines?

– Because you correctly understand that a fall in the prices that we Americans pay for oil is akin to a tax cut – and because you correctly understand that such a tax cut is a boon to us Americans – why do you insist not only on raising the taxes that we pay for the likes of steel, aluminum, automobiles, and washing machines, but also on celebrating these tax hikes as sources of greater American prosperity? Is there something unique about oil – perhaps its odor, its viscosity, the way that it’s spelled – that makes a greater abundance of it beneficial whereas a greater abundance of the likes of steel, aluminum, automobiles, and washing machines is harmful?

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030

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