I worked for Trump. He has changed.

Originally published as a Letter to the Editor at The Washington Post. 

I was chief economist at President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget during his first term, and I agree with Matthew Lynn’s Jan. 15 online op-ed, “We should feel nostalgic for the first Trump term.”

What made the first Trump administration successful on affordability was supply-side reforms that trusted markets to work. Cutting regulations, boosting domestic energy production, providing tax relief and promoting competition to lower prices all proved effective.

That’s why it is troubling to see the president flirting with policies straight out of the Democratic Party’s playbook in his second term, particularly over the past few weeks.

Price controls on credit card interest rates may sound populist, but decades of evidence show they reduce access to credit, especially for lower-income and higher-risk borrowers.

Banning institutional investors from buying single-family housing would reduce capital flowing into housing markets, shrink supply, and ultimately raise costs for renters and buyers. Housing affordability improves when we build more homes, not when we restrict who can finance them.

Trump’s first term showed that market-driven solutions work. Returning to those principles is the surest path to restoring affordability and economic growth.

Vance Ginn, Round Rock, Texas