With the presidential election that is now just weeks from being determined, Christopher Clark, a GCSU economics professor, presented a fiscal policy seminar called “Let’s Get Fiscal.” Clark aims to help spread awareness and inform voters of the policies of the candidates they are voting for.
As a mixed-market economic structure, political leaders’ policies can completely turn the country’s financial welfare on its head.
“10% to 30% [of voters] less likely to be aware of news stories unfavorable to their preferred political party,” said Kara Baskin, a journalist for the Boston Globe.
“I think that the most important thing a voter can be is informed,” said Christopher Clark, a professor of economics.
With such an important decision coming up and the information provided in the vast amount of studies that voters are showing up more informed, Clark’s task of informing the people of GCSU is a big one.
“I don’t care who you vote for,” Clark said. “That’s the beauty of this country: that there’s freedom to choose or do whatever you want to do.”
When discussing politics, the best approach is to present just the facts, with pure evidence to back them up, which Clark did in his presentation.
“For example, you’re strongly in favor of a tariff to protect domestic producers, you should be aware that that’s going to cause prices to rise,” Clark said.
In his seminar, Clark explains fiscal policy as a double-edged sword, stating that when one move is made to help a particular issue, a secondary result is created, forcing another problem to occur. As for Clark’s example, as mentioned earlier, alluding to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a tariff on imported goods can help the production of domestic goods; however, as he continued, prices of those imported goods will rise immensely.
“We want people to know what they’re voting for,” Clark said.
Before explaining the candidate’s fiscal policy, Clark briefly described the U.S.’s current budget components, such as its revenue and expenditures. With the two prominent candidates, Kamala Harris of the Democrat Party and Donald Trump of the Republican Party, Clark explained the top six policy changes each candidate plans to make.
Clark explained the potential taxes Harris intends to make, such as the Corporate Alt Mix Tax and increased Capital Gains Tax, while going more in-depth on the tariffs Trump plans to put in play.
“It helps everything make more sense,” said Carson Fricke, a freshman marketing major. “It gave us all the basic fiscal policies.”
Each slide in Clark’s presentation showed vital information to educate its viewers on the presidential candidate’s fiscal decisions they plan to make over their term in office.
“I had already voted, but it probably would have changed my vote if I had seen it beforehand,” said Daniel Clark, a freshman finance major.
Even with the simplicity of a seminar presentation, Clark’s fiscal policy presentation imparts essential knowledge that can ultimately affect the people of Milledgeville and the country.
“I often get invited to do it just because we want to inform voters,” Clark said, explaining how important it is to help inform voters, especially the younger ones of GCSU.
Clark will continue to give his fiscal policy presentation at each election and keep GCSU faculty, staff and students informed.
