The United States has moved hard right with the victory of Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the country’s Nov. 5 election. The win has also ushered in an oligarchy of billionaires.
What does this mean for the Caribbean in general and the Virgin Islands in particular? Plenty.
First, thanks to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his management of the dollar and monetary policy, Mr. Trump inherits a strong economy with relatively low inflation metrics. Americans, however, do not feel this in their pockets for some reason, and that is why the Democrats lost the election.
Pessimism in the US is surprising, considering that the country is doing better than its counterparts. Economically, the US is at the top of the Group of Seven countries, according to the numbers.
‘Liberal elite’ fearful
Mr. Trump’s return is feared by the US liberal elite. The so-called “woke agenda” — liberal values that have taken an aggressive edge in promoting equal rights for homosexuals, the right to abortion, affirmative action on race, and other goals — has come up smack against a barrier. Four or more years of aggressive right-wing policies means the end for “woke” as we know it. Already, right-wing populists and their supporters in the West are sharpening their knives.
Financial services
For us social democrats who believe in the virtues of social equality, equity and justice, the world has become a much crueler place.
But the good news for the VI is that offshore financial services could not be safer than under the rule of strongmen, oligarchs and billionaires. The wealthy are always enthusiastic about hiding their assets from the prying eyes of the taxman. Today, the new king of the West is a wheeler-dealer billionaire entertainer.
There is also good news for the dollar and a global economy that is valued in dollars. Mr. Trump’s win has seen a jump in price of both the dollar and corporations. Billionaires and multimillionaires have seen their net worth rise significantly. The future looks good for the haves as it always has. Have-nots can only hope the trickle-down economics Mr. Trump’s win heralds actually trickles down.
Minority Trump voters
Paradoxically, some of the greatest losers will be minorities who voted for Trump. Latinos who did so voted for sending their kith and kin back to misery in Latin America.
Black evangelical Trump supporters voted for the man they believe God appointed to rule the world, but I wait to see how many blacks Mr. Trump has in his cabinet. In my view, black men voting for Mr. Trump was analogous to Jews in the east European ghetto voting for the local Nazi concentration camp commander.
Arab Americans in Michigan purportedly voted for Mr. Trump owing to the fairy tale that Democrats supported genocide. But in many cases, the real reason was probably a culture that will not accept a woman as president of the US. Mr. Trump will now offer Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a completely free hand to do what he wants, and the Gaza disaster may well get worse with the full annexation of the territory by Israel.
Turkeys do vote for Christmas.
The next four years? One can only hope for the best, but I expect the worst.