STOCKHOLM – Nobel economics prize laureate Oliver Hart says he’s not impressed by President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for the U.S. economy.
Hart, a Harvard professor, told reporters in Stockholm on Wednesday that he doesn’t yet see “a coherent set of policies” from Trump, but said he’s worried about Trump’s campaign promises of “tearing up trade agreements, imposing tariffs. I don’t think that’s the way forward for the U.S. or the world.”
During the campaign, Trump pledged to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and to slap tariffs on countries that the United States judges to be trading unfairly.
Hart added he’s “sympathetic” to Trump’s plan for higher infrastructure spending but “when you look at the details of what he had in mind, those are not so impressive.”
Hart shares this year’s 8 million-kronor ($930,000) economics award with Bengt Holmstrom of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their contributions to contract theory.
Holmstrom, meanwhile, said he’s worried about the state of politics in the world.
“The population doesn’t seem to care about their representatives. And they try to reach into some strong-willed man or woman to lead the country, and that is an ominous development,” he said. “Which I think is reminiscent of 100 years ago, and I’m extremely worried about that.”
The Nobel laureates will collect their medals and diplomas at a ceremony on Saturday.
DAVID KEYTON