In the Balance - Can Trump Rebuild America?

Can Donald Trump deliver on his promises of more jobs and growth, especially to parts of the Midwest that have been starved of employment and hope for decades? Around seven million factory jobs have been lost in the region since the 1970s. President-elect Trump has promised to invest in infrastructure, boost production, revive manufacturing, and cut taxes. He also talked about abandoning the country's trade deals and building a wall with Mexico. How much of this is feasible, and can he do it whilst keeping some kind of reasonable limit on the country's already substantial national debt?

The BBC's Ed Butler discuss these issues with Pippa Malmgren, a former member of George W Bush's economic team; Jared Bernstein from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and formerly, Barack Obama's economic team. They are also joined by Lou Mavrakis, Mayor of Monessen, Pennsylvania, a rust-belt town which has been hard hit by the recent decades of decline.

(Photo: A former steel factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in November 2016. Credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images)

Published on Saturday, 12th November 2016.

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