Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 20, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
Over 400 economists and former White House policy advisers announced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump in an open letter Tuesday.
The endorsements come as Democrats and Republicans fight to frame their respective candidates as the better option for the U.S. economy in the November election, as high costs of living remain voters’ top priority in national polls.
“The choice in this election is clear,” the letter read. “It is a choice between inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump or prosperity, opportunity, and stability with Kamala Harris.”
The bulk of the 405 signers are progressive economists, many of whom formerly served in Democratic administrations including those of President Joe Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
They include Harvard economist Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under Obama; Evercore founder Roger Altman, former deputy treasury secretary under Clinton; Penny Pritzker, former commerce secretary under Obama; former Federal Reserve vice chair Alan Blinder; and former staff members from regulatory agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CNN was first to report the endorsements.
Some on the list, like Biden’s former National Economic Council director Brian Deese, have already been advising the Harris campaign behind closed doors.
A few of the signers worked under Republican administrations. Sean O’Keefe was deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget in former President George W. Bush’s White House. Phillip Braun was a staff member of former President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The letter could provide Harris with a talking point in her upcoming economy-focused speech on Wednesday, during which she is expected to unveil new policy proposals.
Some of the signers, like Furman, have previously criticized some of Harris’ proposals. For example, he opposed her plan to impose a federal ban on “price gouging” in the food and grocery sectors.
“Did I like the proposal she had about price gouging? No,” Furman said in an August interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Jason Furman
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC
Still, he joins the chorus of economists who oppose many of Trump’s economic proposals, which include hardline tariffs on all imports, deep corporate tax cuts and giving the president a say in Federal Reserve decisions about interest rates.
Prior to Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris, a large set of mostly progressive and center-left economists had already expressed their opposition to Trump’s plans and endorsed the Democratic ticket.
In one case, sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists endorsed Biden’s candidacy on June 25, two days before the fateful debate that ultimately led the president to drop his reelection bid.