Trump’s $5,000 ‘dividends’ could upend the economy. Here’s how

President Donald Trump says he will send $5,000 dividend checks to every adult in America if his Republican party retains full control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Economists warn, however, that a deluge of $5,000 checks could trigger unintended consequences for American consumers, including higher prices and steeper interest rates.

The more fundamental question is whether Trump and Congress would seriously consider dispatching $1.3 trillion in free money to American consumers.

The president is “promising something that almost certainly can’t be done, from a policy and political perspective,” said Garrett Watson, vice president of federal tax policy at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

At the first-ever Republican midterm convention in Dallas, on Sept. 9, Trump pledged that if the GOP retains control of the House and Senate in the November elections, he will issue $5,000 dividends to every American adult.

“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend,” Trump said. “Now, all we have to do is win.”

But some financial experts voiced skepticism that Trump’s pledge was sincere. The president has spoken repeatedly of sending $2,000 tariff dividend checks to American consumers, and they have yet to arrive.

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/money/