| Michael Faulkender is an establishment Republican economist who backs corporations and the rich over middle-class people. At inflation’s peak in 2022, Faulkender defended corporations that were raising prices during shortages. Faulkender has also pushed for Trump’s 2017 tax cuts to be made permanent. An analysis from the Treasury Department found making those cuts permanent would lead to a huge tax break for the super-rich while costing Americans over $4 trillion dollars. During the first Trump Administration, Faulkender ran the Paycheck Protection Program which suffered from fraud. |
Michael Faulkender Defended Corporations For Raising Prices During Shortages. According to ABC News, "Michael Faulkender, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, compared companies charging high prices to an individual who puts his or her home on the market at a favorable time. 'Let’s say I bought a house five years ago, and I’m looking to sell it for whatever reason. Do I price it at what the market will bear or what I bought it for plus a politically correct predetermined markup?' he said. 'I’m going to price it at what the market can bear.' The high prices at the grocery store or the pump are the expected outcome of a market in which individuals have ample money to spend but few products to buy, Faulkender said." 'The limited supply available goes to those with the highest value,' he said. 'The profits then generated are a consequence but not the cause.'" [ABC News, 6/20/22]
2023: Michael Faulkender Supported Making The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Permanent. According to a press release by the America First Policy Institute, Michael Faulkender stated, “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was a central contributor to the economic success our Nation realized during the Trump Administration. Coupled with energy independence and deregulation, tax reform caused the American economy to realize rising wages, low prices, and historically low poverty levels. Parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act began expiring at the end of 2022, removing some of the economic incentives that our Nation needs as we potentially enter a recession. As this paper explains, making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent will help the U.S. remain the best country in the world in which to live, work, invest, and prosper.” [America First Policy Institute, 3/7/23
Extending Trump Tax Cuts Would Benefit Top 0.1% And Cost $4.2 Trillion. According to Washington Post, "For instance, the Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis estimates that the top 0.1% of earners would get a tax cut of $314,000 under a full extension of the individual and estate tax provisions, with the total cost of those tax cuts amounting to $4.2 trillion between 2026 and 2035." [Washington Post, 1/10/25]
2020: Michael Faulkender Ran The Paycheck Protection Program. According to The Hill, "During Trump’s first term, Faulkender ran the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) at the Treasury, a stimulus policy that sent out nearly $800 billion in loans to businesses to keep workers on payrolls during the pandemic, almost all of which were forgiven." [The Hill, 12/4/24]
Study Found Only 23-34% Of PPP Money Went Directly To Workers
Study Found Only 23-34% Of PP Money Went Directly To Workers. According to The Hill, "The PPP came under scrutiny for benefiting the wealthiest taxpayers. One study found that only 23 to 34 percent of PPP bucks went directly to workers who would have otherwise lost their jobs during the pandemic." [The Hill, 12/4/24]
Study Found Roughly 10% Of Forgiven PPP Loans Were “Questionable”
Study Found Roughly 10% Of Forgiven PPP Loans Were “Questionable.”
According to The Hill, "PPP loans were also susceptible to fraudulent claims, with researchers finding that roughly a tenth of the forgiven loans, amounting to more than $64 billion, were 'questionable,' with the most suspicious activity occurring in the financial technology sector." [The Hill, 12/4/24]