How Will the Economy Change if Clinton Wins?

In our continuing review of the economic policies being advocated by the 2016 presidential candidates, we move on now to the top Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton.

Clinton appeared on Friday at an auto parts manufacturer conference in Detroit where she proposed a “new bargain for the new economy” that would “bring back manufacturing jobs and increase collective bargaining rights.”

Her economic program reveals a wide-ranging plan for job growth that would provide incentives for corporations that invest in employees and strip tax benefits from companies that move jobs overseas, a proposal she called a “clawback.” Her plan would also place an exit tax on companies that move their headquarters overseas to pay a lower tax rate abroad — known as inversions.

Clinton’s… economic program reveals a wide-ranging plan for job growth that would provide incentives for corporations that invest in employees and strip tax benefits from companies that move jobs overseas…

More Jobs, Higher Wages

Clinton believes that the implementation of this latest revision to the corporate tax code would create local jobs and lift wages, which have been virtually stagnant for 15 years even as the costs of college, child care, housing and health care have skyrocketed.

She would encourage participation in the workforce, especially for women who, for too long, have demanded and not received equal pay, paid leave, and affordable child care. Hillary believes women are crucial to the nation’s competitiveness and growth and are vital for lifting incomes for working families.

At the Detroit speech, Clinton reiterated the importance of providing tax incentives for companies that share profits with employees and repeated her suggestion to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour. She would invest in infrastructure, clean energy, and scientific and medical research to create jobs and strengthen the economy.

Education Assistance

Hillary’s ‘New College Compact’ will offer $350 billion so that students do not have to borrow to pay tuition at a public college in their state. Her plan will cut interest rates on student loans and enable an estimated 25 million Americans with student debt to refinance at today’s lower rates, saving the typical borrower $2,500 over the life of their loans.

Included in her educational plans is an expansion of early learning. Hillary’s proposal would work to ensure that every 4-year-old in America has access to high-quality preschool in the next 10 years.

Hillary supports ending the “carried interest” loophole, enacting the “Buffett Rule” that ensures no millionaire pays a lower effective tax rate than their secretary, and closing tax loopholes and expenditures that benefit the wealthiest taxpayers to pay for her plan to make college affordable.

Wall Street Reforms

The shift from short-term to long-term thinking will be an important factor in Hillary’s administration with a series of Wall Street reforms to be implemented after the financial crisis. She plans to ‘challenge dangerous risks in the financial sector’, and appoint and empower tough, independent regulators while prosecuting individuals and firms that commit fraud or other criminal wrong-doing.

The presidential frontrunner’s approach to private entrepreneurship is that the private sector cannot be seen as the problem per se but must be part of the overall solution and she criticized companies that are overly dependent on dividends and stock buybacks to reward shareholders calling it money “they’re not using to train their workers or give them a raise.”

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that analyzes proposed tax plans by Democratic candidates, Clinton’s economic plans would raise $1.1 trillion in the first decade.

Analysts are uncertain, however, how effective her clawback proposal would be, and whether in the balance of a corporation’s business decisions the loss of tax breaks or threat of penalties would tip the scale against moving operations out of the country. In addition, the proposals could face an uphill battle in a Congress that will most likely have at least one chamber, the House, still under Republican control after 2016.

Cina Coren
Cina Coren is a former Wall Street broker and financial advisor. She holds a Master's degree in Communications and spent many years writing for international news outlets and journalistic publications. Today, Cina spends most of her time writing internet articles and blogs, and reading various newspapers to stay on top of the news.