The Issues: Trump’s Proposal to Lower Prices by Increasing Energy Production

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino. Former President Donald Trump has cited more energy production, specifically drilling for oil and natural gas, as the key to bringing down energy prices, and inflation overall. He promises to “cut energy prices in half within 12 months” of taking office. “We will frack, frack, frack and drill, baby, drill,” Trump said in Detroit on Oct. 18. “I will cut your energy prices in half within 12 months. … Cut them in half within 12 months of taking office. That’s going to bring everything down.” It’s a standard refrain in many of Trump’s speeches. “We have tremendous wealth in this country, but it’s under our feet. It’s called liquid gold. And we’re going to bring down your energy costs. And, with that, everything’s going to follow,” he said at an Oct. 16 town hall on Fox News, in response to a question about his “plans to revitalize the economy.” Economists and energy experts say that increasing the supply of oil and natural gas could bring down prices in the short term, if demand remains the same, but there are several complicating factors to Trump’s plan. The price of oil is...