Economic Update: Economics of Women Voting Trump
Podcast: Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
Episode Date: December 8, 2016
Host: Richard D. Wolff
Guest: Dr. Harriet Fraad (second half)
Overview
This episode of Economic Update explores the economic and psychological factors behind the voting patterns of American women—specifically, why a majority of white married women voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. In the first half, Richard Wolff dissects Trump’s early economic moves and offers global economic developments and progressive responses. The second half features an in-depth discussion with Dr. Harriet Fraad, focusing on the complexities of women’s economic positions and psychological motivations in their electoral choices.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Trump’s Planned Elimination of the Estate Tax
[04:00]
-
The estate tax affects an extremely small portion of Americans—only those with estates over $10.9 million.
-
Collects about $21 billion annually for the federal government.
-
Eliminating this tax exclusively benefits the richest 0.1% and widens wealth inequality.
-
Substituting it with a capital gains tax (at 20% vs the estate tax’s 40%) would further benefit the wealthy while reducing federal revenue.
“When Mr. Trump campaigned to do something about inequality, maybe what he meant is to make it worse, because that’s what this will do.” — Richard Wolff [05:40]
2. Capitalism’s Everyday “Bizarre” Waste
[08:20]
- Examples include airlines (e.g., United) charging for overhead bin usage—reflecting the incremental extraction of profits at the cost of the public.
- Airlines have collaborated to reduce flights and maximize profits, making travel more miserable for most passengers.
- Broader point: Capitalist systems create routine inefficiencies and hardships for ordinary people.
3. Global Economic Instability
[11:30]
- European Central Bank’s ongoing “quantitative easing” (printing money) highlights persistent economic woes in Europe—problems that have reverberated globally since the 2008 crisis.
- U.S. dollar strength (due in part to capital flight from troubled regions) risks causing debt crises in poorer nations.
4. Trump’s Economic Advisory Board: The Same Old Elites
[14:15]
-
Despite anti-establishment rhetoric, Trump’s appointees are drawn from Wall Street (Blackstone, JPMorgan, BlackRock, etc.) and major corporations (Walmart, Disney, GM).
-
Many of these figures contributed to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, highlighting the bipartisan overlap at the top.
“It reads like a joke, only it isn’t a joke, unless, of course, the joke’s on us.” — Richard Wolff [17:50]
5. Austria’s Election: A Different Path for Discontent
[19:10]
- In Austria, voters facing economic hardship chose a left-leaning Green Party leader over a right-wing, anti-immigration candidate.
- Wolff notes this as a contrast to U.S. and U.K. where discontent fueled the right.
6. Cities Ban Diesel for Public Health
[20:40]
-
Inspired by Tokyo, major cities (Paris, Mexico City, Madrid, Athens; possibly London) prepare to ban diesel vehicles to fight air pollution—unlike any U.S. city.
“Here is a decision… to put the health of their citizens ahead of the profits of the oil and automobile companies...” — Richard Wolff [21:30]
7. Pope Francis on Inequality and the Estate Tax
[22:10]
-
At a Vatican global forum, Pope Francis calls for equal opportunity and fair resource distribution, challenging inheritance systems that perpetuate inequality.
-
Wolff connects this stance directly to Trump’s proposed estate tax repeal.
“To be a good Christian, as the Pope sees it, is to have equal opportunity. Cutting estate taxes... guarantees and perpetuates unequal opportunity.” — Richard Wolff [23:00]
8. Oil Companies’ Economic Desperation
[24:10]
- Persistent oil extraction is critical to corporate valuations, fueling industry opposition to fossil fuel reductions and aggressive PR campaigns.
9. Portland, Oregon’s Pay-Ratio Tax
[25:55]
- New law taxes companies whose CEOs earn over 100 times the median worker wage. It’s a modest but real step toward combating income inequality.
Main Segment: Why Did White Married Women Vote for Trump?
Featuring Dr. Harriet Fraad
[31:59]
Setting the Record Straight on the Statistic
[32:01–33:10]
-
The oft-cited 53% figure refers to white married women, not all women. White married women often vote with their husbands, reflecting household pressures and shared economic perception.
“Married women tend to vote the way their husbands do… whereas single women voted for Obama.” — Dr. Harriet Fraad [33:10]
Psychological and Economic Roots of Voting Patterns
-
Many married women rationalized Trump’s misogynistic actions as “locker room talk,” similar to Melania Trump’s defense.
-
The collapse of the “family wage” since the 1970s (jobs exported, mechanized, and wages frozen) eroded women’s household security.
-
Still overwhelmingly responsible for uncompensated domestic and emotional labor, women also face job insecurity and wage penalties for motherhood.
-
Corporate feminism (Hillary Clinton’s brand) never addressed the insecurity faced by most American women, especially single mothers and low-wage workers.
“Hillary was a corporate feminist… But the average woman… the lowest paid wage worker. Single women are the lowest paid workers. Women with children get a penalty…” — Dr. Harriet Fraad [37:10]
Alienation and Distrust of Elites
[39:00–41:03]
-
Working-class women feel derided by elites, the educational system, and even some feminists. Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” comment reinforced this alienation.
-
Many felt more recognized by Trump’s rage than Clinton’s policy proposals.
-
Identification with Trump’s anger overrode concerns about his behavior.
“They didn’t vote for Trump because of his program... They voted to identify with his rage.” — Richard Wolff [41:38]
Why Clinton’s Feminism Didn’t Deliver
-
Clinton’s “glass ceiling” feminism failed to address daily economic hardship or value care work.
-
Sanders’s campaign, with universal child care, better family leave, and higher minimum wage, was more attuned to these concerns.
-
Rage at the status quo drove women to Trump, not policy agreement.
“Hillary stood for the top. She stood for the Democratic establishment that let them down… And so they didn’t identify with her. They saw her as part of a corporate elite…” — Dr. Harriet Fraad [45:38]
Questions of Sexual Morality and Voting
-
For white married women, having “sexual protection” within marriage reduced concern for Trump’s sexism—unlike more vulnerable single women and minorities.
-
Outrage and identification trumped (pun acknowledged by Wolff) aversion to Trump’s personal behavior.
“Those other concerns, the built up rage, the economic crisis, the humiliation, that those factors trumped their disgust at the sexual behavior…” — Richard Wolff [46:56]
The Future: Possibility of a Shift
[47:43–49:27]
-
If Trump fails to deliver substantive change, Dr. Fraad expects married women’s anger will persist and may turn on him, as it did on Obama and Clinton.
-
The outcome depends on whether an alternative (like Sanders) successfully channels this anger toward systemic economic transformation rather than scapegoating immigrants or minorities.
“And after a while, people will realize, wait a minute, that’s just a photo op. We are not being saved. Things are worse for us.” — Dr. Harriet Fraad [49:28]
The Uselessness of Symbolic Solutions
-
Trump’s celebrated Carrier jobs deal is critiqued as largely symbolic, benefitting few while costing society. The lesson is that “photo ops” cannot address systemic economic dislocation.
“A photo op, the saving of a few jobs, granted, but at an enormous social cost…” — Richard Wolff [50:52]
Political Alienation is Deeply Rooted
[54:16–55:40]
-
Voting is an expression of decades of alienation, not short-term campaign promises.
-
Trump’s brashness and willingness to attack “elites” was satisfying and cathartic for voters feeling powerless.
“He behaves like an angry street person. A bully, a braggart. And he beats up on the people that they like to see beat up. Yes, very satisfying.” — Dr. Harriet Fraad [55:40]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On estate tax repeal:
“Bottom line is the richest among us will become much richer than they were before.” — Richard Wolff [06:10] -
On political continuity:
“The very same people that all the other presidents go to for their guidance, that’s where Mr. Trump is going.” — Richard Wolff [16:20] -
On equitable inheritance:
“For each person to have the same opportunities to realize his or her potential, a potential that is ultimately based on the dignity of the children of God…” — Pope Francis, quoted by Wolff [22:40] -
On the gendered division of rage and security:
“The mass of women… saw [Clinton] as part of a corporate elite who dumps them into the basket of deplorables.” — Dr. Harriet Fraad [45:38] -
On the election as anger management:
“They voted to identify with his rage.” — Richard Wolff [41:38] -
On future outcomes:
“If Trump turns out to be lots of theater, lots of tweets, lots of photo ops, but doesn’t fundamentally alter the condition of the mass of women, would you expect them to be as angry at him…?” — Richard Wolff [47:43]
Important Timestamps
- [04:00] — Trump estate tax repeal explained
- [08:20] — Airline industry’s new charges as microcosm of capitalist waste
- [14:15] — Trump’s economic advisory appointments: the return of elites
- [19:10] — The Austrian left turn
- [20:40] — Major cities move to ban diesel cars
- [22:10] — Pope Francis on economic opportunity
- [24:10] — The fossil fuel industry’s existential crisis
- [25:55] — Portland taxes extreme CEO-worker pay gaps
- [31:59] — Dr. Harriet Fraad joins to analyze women’s votes for Trump
- [33:10] — Married vs. single women’s voting tendencies
- [37:10] — Economic hardships women face
- [41:38] — Voting as identification with rage
- [45:38] — The limits of "corporate feminism"
- [47:43] — Predicting future shifts in women’s political anger
- [50:52] — The real cost of Trump’s Carrier jobs deal
- [54:16] — Long-term roots of political alienation
- [55:40] — “A bully, a braggart. And he beats up on the people that they like to see beat up.”
Conclusion
This episode delves beneath surface-level campaign analysis to reveal how decades of economic change, cultural alienation, and failures of mainstream feminism intersected to push white married women toward Trump in 2016—not for love of his program, but out of bitter identification with his rage against the elite. Dr. Fraad argues that symbolic achievements and rhetorical flourishes—and even exposure of personal scandals—are dwarfed in importance by lasting economic hardship and the psychological need to find an outlet for anger and dissatisfaction.
For future elections, unless real material conditions change for ordinary women and families, and unless a candidate taps their lived frustrations with substantive, recognizable solutions, anger at the status quo—and votes for those who can channel it—will persist.