The US is not a serious country

Last week, on 9 September, Donald Trump promised that, if the Republicans retained their Congressional majorities in the November elections, he would send $5000 to every adult American citizen. The cost has been estimated at around $1.2 trillion. The announcement received cursory coverage in the mainstream press the following day. A few retired Republicans protested. The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial criticising the proposal as bribery, and the New York Times put it way down the front page of its website. A day or two later, the story disappeared from most front pages. Admittedly, it was the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, but the NYT found space for stories about the Reflecting Pool fiasco and Trump’s presidential library. I found one story in USA Today suggesting that the policy might be inflationary, but that’s about it. The reaction from US financial markets has been similarly subdued. Interest rates on government bonds have continued the gradual increase of…