Photo: AP

Apricot variety Donald Trump plans to unveil his bold new economic agenda in a speech today. Many of the worst possible policies, together at last!

We live in a nation with levels of economic inequality not seen in nearly 100 years and a financial sector that still has not been fully reformed after its spectacularly destructive meltdown in 2008. What does Donald Trump plan to do about this, according to Bloomberg, which got a preview of his speech today? Let’s break it down categorically.

GOOD IDEAS

  • End the carried-interest loophole that allows hedge fund and private equity managers to pay lower taxes.

BAD IDEAS

  • He will repeal the estate tax, which only targets a tiny handful of the ultra-wealthy.
  • He will cut the corporate tax rate by more than half, to 15%.
  • He will revive the Keystone pipeline and trash the Paris climate agreement.
  • He will repeal Dodd-Frank, the post-crisis set of (fairly tepid) regulations, and “he will not propose any new financial regulations until the economy shows ‘significant growth.’” Deregulation, which led directly to the financial crisis, is back!
  • “Trump is expected to say that civil servants whose focus is job-killing regulation should be replaced with experts who would help create jobs.” (???). Bad things should be good things!

In other news, it was reported today that the number of billionaires grew last year, thanks in large part to children inheriting great wealth. Angry blue collar Americans left out of the global economy demand that rich kids be allowed to inherit more.

Easy to see this guy’s appeal.