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It\u2019s still the economy, stupid, and we saw that tonight. In the first, and maybe only, debate between Vice President Kamala Harris <\/a>and former President Donald Trump<\/a>, the economy was at the top of the hour\u2014and the two candidates touched on issues from housing to taxes to tariffs to inflation.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a debate that started with economic issues, both candidates fiercely defended their records<\/a>. Trump and Harris pointed the finger at each other over the current state of the economy, while simultaneously claiming their policies either helped rebound from the fallout of the pandemic or the former\u2019s presidency.\u00a0<\/p>\n Harris was the first to speak, and right off the bat she mentioned her childhood in a middle-class family and being the only person on the stage with a plan for working Americans. She instantly distanced herself from Trump, a once real estate scion and billionaire, who she argues will only cut taxes for the rich. She, on the other hand, will create what she calls an \u201copportunity economy,\u201d partly through tax cuts for families and small businesses, Harris explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump, too, said he\u2019ll cut taxes and \u201ccreate a great economy,\u201d which he touted he\u2019s done exactly before. He denied what Harris called a \u201cTrump sales tax,\u201d that would cost American families thousands of dollars, instead emphasizing that he\u2019ll enforce tariffs on other countries<\/a>. By how much will vary, but it\u2019s clear China would take a hit. \u201cOther countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we\u2019ve done for the world,\u201d Trump said, later pushing back on a claim from Harris that his plan for tariffs would result in higher prices for Americans. The back-and-forth about tariffs even touched on chips; Harris claimed Trump sold American chips to China and Trump said she bought chips from Taiwan.<\/p>\n Kamala Harris and Donald Trump spar over the economy at their first presidential debate. pic.twitter.com\/8Lmt77bGAf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI had tariffs, and yet I had no inflation,\u201d Trump continued, pointing the finger at the Biden-Harris administration, which he claimed fueled \u201cinflation like very few people have ever seen before, probably the worst in our nation\u2019s history.\u201d Of course that isn\u2019t true, but inflation did reach a four-decade high roughly two summers ago and has cooled substantially since, to the extent that the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates as soon as this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n So while Trump blamed Harris for a terrible economy riddled with high inflation that\u2019s keeping families from buying eggs and bacon, Harris said she and President Joe Biden cleaned up his mess, and that she\u2019d be a president for all Americans, something she\u2019s said before on the campaign trail. Harris also touted her proposal to increase the child tax credit<\/a> from its current $2,000 to $6,000 a year, and give a $50,000 tax deduction to small businesses, which she called \u201cpart of the backbone of America\u2019s economy.\u201d She pushed back on Trump\u2019s claims of economic greatness while he was helming the country, arguing his administration resulted in \u201ctrade deficits\u201d and \u201ctrade wars.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris touched on housing as well in a way the yes-in-my-backyard crew would appreciate, acknowledging the country\u2019s shortage of homes and how it sends costs up, whether it be home prices or rents. At that moment, when given the chance to respond, Trump didn\u2019t mention his plan for housing, he instead attempted to distance himself from Project 2025 (after it was mentioned by Harris), which indeed has a housing chapter written by none other than Ben Carson, his secretary of Housing and Urban Development.\u00a0<\/p>\n And unsurprisingly, Trump focused on immigration and what he suggests is millions of people pouring into the country and stealing jobs from the African American and Latino communities and unions.\u00a0<\/p>\n To that end, there were of course personal attacks. Trump said Harris doesn\u2019t have her own plans, that they\u2019re instead Biden\u2019s; he called her a Marxist; and he said she destroyed our country. Harris, on the other hand, at one point referring to Trump\u2019s upbringing, said: \u201cI know not everybody got handed $400 million on a silver platter and then filed bankruptcy six times.\u201d The two also exchanged blows about their rallies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Voters will get their chance to weigh in on the debate performance at the ballot box, with the first early ballots going out just hours after the debate. And we\u2019ll get a better picture of what Wall Street thinks post-debate once the markets open Wednesday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n