Mda: Let this be a lesson to the world’s politicians

Writer and academic Zakes Mda said Donald Trump’s rhetoric on jobs, terrorism and immigration had appealed to United States citizens, who responded by handing him victory at the ballot box.

The award-winning author of novels such as The Madonna of Excelsior warned that Trump’s election win was a lesson to politicians around the world.

“We all lied to ourselves [that he would not win]. He appeared as an idiot … we thought Americans will never vote for someone like him. We overestimated the voters.”

But Mda does not believe that many of the controversial measures Trump pledged to implement during his campaign will translate into official US policy.

Similarly, Trump’s promise to revive small-town America will be difficult in an economy that has been wired to direct income and opportunities towards urban hubs and the better educated.

Little in the president-elect’s so far sketchy economic plans indicates the trend can be reversed any time soon, according to analysts.

The manufacturing jobs Trump pledges to bring back have disappeared as much because of automation as the trade deals he has promised to rewrite. A promised infrastructure revamp would boost jobs but for only as long as the programmes last, economists say.

During Obama’s eight years in office incomes for the best-off continued to diverge, despite nearly 10-million new jobs.

On a pre-tax basis, the share of income going to the top fifth of households increased from 50.4% to 51.4% between 2008 and 2015 at the expense of all the others, according to census estimates.

Without the sort of tax and redistribution policies Republicans have traditionally opposed, Trump may struggle to make good on his promise to help those left behind in the global economy, economists say.

“We have 30 to 40 years to catch up on … Lots of money has gone to the top and to change that is going to be a long and slow process,” said David Madland of the Centre for American Progress think-tank.

Trump promised to shake up an establishment that, he argued, was responsible for destroying middleclass jobs with bad trade deals. The message hit home across the rural US and medium-sized cities, where voters believed they had missed out on the fruits of the seven-year economic recovery that big cities enjoyed. — Matuma Letsoalo & Reuters