I have been having this thought for a long time now. It struck me a few months back that the American President seems to think about one thing, and one thing only: Money. This may not come as a surprise to anyone; but hear me out.
Economic growth depends on safety, and safety depends on projects like the one U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are running. The very organization Mr. Trump has attacked in order to save money.
Saving cost on USAID may look good on the balance sheet, but with diseases on the rise world-wide, it is only a matter of time before conflicts will follow. And the economic world is more connected than ever, so this will eventually hit back on America.
Same with Medicare, an attemt to fix the broken American health care system. Cutting cost here will look good on a balance sheet, but eventually it will lead to more sick people — and less people able to work. Deporting people will only accelerate the lack of workers in industries that are hard work and low pay. The same jobs Trump want to give back to Americans. Hard work and low paying jobs.
The fact that Trump uses these cost cuts to push a bill to lower taxes for the rich means that the slogan “America First” is wrong. This is not about America, it is about money. Money for people with money.
Even Elon Musk, a man with more money than anyone else in the world, has realized that his project to save cost was not only about saving cost — it was about taking money from the government and giving it to the rich.
Elon sees cost cutting from a business perspective, not a global perspective. If his employees get sick, it is not his problem. He can find new people. But cutting cost in Medicare does not work the same way. It will still be an American problem. In the case of USAID it will be a global problem.
Economy is about more than money in and money out. It is about people, climate change, diseases, peace, and much more — on a global scale. These are things you cannot enter into an spread sheet.
If you as a leader only thinks about money, you are doing it wrong.