Economist Chris Butler: 'Trump Is Not A Conservative'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As Donald Trump continues to maintain his lead in polls for the Republican nomination for President in next year's election, his economic policies are coming under more scrutiny and drawing criticism from those who contend they are not in line with party principles.
Economist Chris Butler maintains Trump's ideas are not what is expected from a typical Republican, but thinks Trump may start shifting to more traditional opinions.
Butler told Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT Trump still has a lot of work to do to be considered legitimate by conservative economists.
"I think he should translate into a great leader of economic policy. But if you actually listen to what he's saying… he is anything but a conservative when it comes to economic policy, notwithstanding all of the great things that this guy brings to the table, his economic policy, I would like to see re-tooled."
Trump's main focus so far has been on trade imbalances with China, but Butler said he is overlooking some of the positives reaped by Americans.
"He thinks they're ripping us off and, by his standard, they are. But the thing we have to keep mind as consumers is we benefit from low prices by trading with the rest of world. That is the conservative economist take and..this Trump guy just doesn't seem to fit that mold."
Ultimately Butler thinks Trump is pandering for support and will eventually move to a more sensible economic foundation.
"So far, what we can take from him is he's more concerned with playing protectionist politics. Remember that buys votes. When you say you're going to protect every industry under the Sun, you're going to get the vote from every industry under the Sun. Right now I'm just chalking it up to politics. We'll see what happens."
