Trump would send US economy back into recession: Clinton

Republican presidential presumptive nominee Donald Trump would throw the US economy back into recession, his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton said as she unveiled her economic policies which she claimed would result in creation of jobs and put back the country on the path of prosperity.

"If Donald Trump were to get behind the wheel of the American economy, he would very likely drive us off a cliff, and working families would bear the brunt of the impact of lost jobs, lost savings and lost livelihoods," Clinton said in a major speech on her economic policies in Columbus, Ohio.

"That's the natural conclusion when you look at Trump's policy proposals, his rash and reckless temperament, and his record in the private sector of doing harm to working families and small businesses," she said.

In a blistering attack on Trump, Clinton underlined that according to liberals and conservatives the real estate tycoon's ideas would be disastrous.

"The Chamber of Commerce and labour unions. Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Warren, economists on the right, the left and the centre all agree: Trump would throw us back into recession," she said.

"Trump would take us back to where we were before the crisis. He'd rig the economy for Wall Street again. That will not happen on my watch, I guarantee you," Clinton said.

"The US does not do business Trump's way, and it matters when a presidential candidate talks like this, because the world hangs on every word our president says," she said.

"The full faith and credit of the US is not something we just gamble away. That could cause an economic catastrophe, and it would break 225 years of ironclad trust that the American economy has with Americans and the rest of the world," Clinton said.

Clinton's address in Ohio sought to define Trump on the economy in a similar manner in which she tried to undercut his foreign policy credentials earlier this month.

"A few weeks ago, I said his foreign policy proposals and reckless statements represent a danger to our national security. But you might think that because he has spent his life as a businessman he would be better prepared to handle the economy," she said.

"Well, it turns out he's dangerous there, too. Just like he should not have his finger on the button, he shouldn't have his hands on our economy," Clinton said.

The Trump campaign hit back immediately.

"While the Obama-Clinton economy has produced wages for many workers lower than 1970's wages, and produced a record 94 million people outside the labour force, Donald Trump has proposed a series of reforms that will create trillions in wealth for our workers," the campaign said.

"Hillary Clinton fueled the mortgage meltdown, now she wants to bring in millions of low-wage workers to drive down salaries for the most vulnerable Americans — all to boost profits for her special interest donors," the Trump campaign alleged in a statement.

It alleged that she laundered money to Bill Clinton through Laureate Education, while he was an honorary chairman of the group.

Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus in a statement said Clinton is the last person qualified to talk about what will get the economy thriving again.

"After eight years of disastrous Obama policies which have produced stagnant wages, historically weak growth, and a declining middle class, Hillary Clinton is doubling down on the same failed agenda which has left our country wondering when prosperity will come back," he said.