Presidential Election Series #1: Voting Your Pocketbook | Economics, Trade, and Business Implications for US Presidential Elections

***This event will be conducted in English only***

"Voting your pocketbook" is an American truism. However, given the unusual circumstances of 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic causing the deepest dive in the global economy for a century, the outcome of the upcoming presidential election remains uncertain. Moreover, this is a collective disaster, as no country is exempt. The US GDP has declined as unemployment hit its highest rate since the Great Depression, and many businesses, shut down to slow the Coronavirus spread, are expected to declare bankruptcy. From Wall Street to Main Street, economists, business owners, and everyday Americans alike are unsure of what the future holds. What does this time of great economic uncertainty mean for the 2020 US presidential election?

China, for one, will be front and center in this election. The more the US economy weakens and upends Trump's re-election odds, the more the finger pointing at China will increase. Trump has made his tough-on-China trade policy a centerpiece of his campaign and mounted "Beijing Biden" attack ads. Joe Biden has responded in kind, trying to out-hawk Trump on China. Biden attack ads slam Trump for failing to hold China accountable for the Coronavirus outbreak.

AmCham China's first 2020 Presidential Election Series, co-organized by US-China Education Trust (USCET),Voting Your Pocketbook: Economics, Trade, and Business Implications for US Presidential Elections, will engage experts to assess the effect of pocketbook voting on US elections and explore what the state of the US economy, trade and business will mean for the 2020 presidential election. Alan Beebe, President of AmCham China, will moderate the discussion and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch, President of USCET, will make the introductory remarks.