If Trump’s trade policy is the earthquake, the long-standing hardships confronting America’s middle class are the tectonic plate shifts that made it inevitable. America was hit by globalisation and robotics shocks like all advanced economies, but unlike other advanced economies, it failed to help its workers adjust since the New Deal’s ‘helping hand’ policies had been removed. This fuelled economic frustration, simmering anger, and the election of an avowed protectionist. But tariffs aren’t being used as a solution; they are an excuse for not doing things that would actually help – like Canadian-style social policy. Those are politically impossible as they would require higher taxes and bigger government.

A discussion to generate ideas for student research. Created by Lee Shinaberger, 2024.

A recent report from the Association of College and University Educators and the Lumina Foundation found students evaluated their courses based on four primary factors.