Donald Trump's Economic Policies Would be Disastrous

In honor of Donald Trump's Reddit AMA that he is conducting in his safe space, here's some real questions for him to answer.


One of the key platforms of your economic policy is putting 'America First' when it comes to trade. You've threatened to place tariffs as high as 45% on Chinese goods, in order to protect manufacturing jobs. But there is almost unanimous consensus amongst economists that free trade is good, that NAFTA, which you've railed against, was more beneficial than harmful (see the 2nd question of the first linked poll), that the poor and middle class disproportionally benefit from trade, and that it does not cost jobs on net (some are gained, some are lost). Why do you think you understand his issue better than the vast majority of economists, even those who would normally be ideologically opposed (I.E. Smith, Friedman, Krugman, DeLong, are all in agreement here)?


Deporting over ten million illegal immigrants could cost hundreds of billions of dollars. It would also lose the Federal government revenue, as most of them pay the payroll tax. What benefit justifies this massive increase in our debt, and breaking up millions of families and destroying the livelihoods of people, most of whom are just trying to escape the violence and poverty of the nations they came from?


In a debate, you were asked how your tax cuts would be paid for, when the Tax Foundation estimated they'd cost $10 trillion over 10 years, even when adjusting for the increased economic growth they'd generate. You responded that they'd be paid for by.... growth. How do you really plan on paying for them?


If immigrants reduce our wages and take our jobs, is population growth bad for the economy, too? Should women be prohibited from working to boost wages? Do you not think these people contribute to the economy too - by working, creating businesses, investing, etc.?


You promised to increase spending on military and the vets, while not cutting Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security. You also say you plan on balancing the budget. Yet, looking at the plans you've listed, a conservative estimate would be that, combined with current deficits, they'd add at least $2 trillion a year to the debt (for a more accurate estimate, see here).
With interest rates set to rise and the boomers retiring, this will only get worse as your administration continues. Given that you've stated you won't cut the biggest budget items, how are we going to even remotely get near a balanced budget? What if a recession or war occurs?