ANALYSIS/OPINION: Since the day Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016, the Dow Jones industrial average has risen by some 35 percent, making the last 14 months one of the greatest bull market runs in history.
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The economic numbers clearly have improved on President Donald Trump’s watch, with unemployment down and consumer confidence stronger. “We are just getting started,” @POTUS says. “Economic growth has topped 3 percent,” Trump said Thursday at a White House event while addressing his administration’s reduction in regulations. “Two quarters in a row, except for the hurricanes, we would have almost hit 4 percent, and you remember how we were doing when I first took office.”
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by Richard M. Ebeling One of the most common phrases to be heard from “the left” is the assertion that someone or some public policy is or is not on “the right side of history.” It has almost become a mantra by those who disagree with, hate, or are fearful of ideas and policies proposed by those generally characterized as being politically on “the right.” The notion behind it is that “history” moves in a particular direction, toward some set of specific goals and societal forms, with each step in the historical process representing a “higher” and “better” stage or level than the preceding ones at which “society” has been operating. It is also captured in the popular labeling of those, again, on the political left as being “progressives” in their outlook and proposals for social reform and change. On the other hand, opponents are declared to be “reactionary,” “conservative,” or “deniers” of some facet of reality. Under the latter heading would be those who deny or challenge or question whether “climate change” is singularly or primarily or significantly man-made, or whether America still is or is becoming a more racist, misogynist, or generally anti-“social justice” hateful society. This…
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Former President Barack Obama is taking credit for the robust economic growth that is taking place under President Trump. At a conference of mayors in Chicago, Mr. Obama congratulated himself Tuesday for strong employment numbers in the U.S. this year, saying his climate-change policies have contributed to growth.
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by Robert Romano One of the greatest disappointments with the U.S. economy since the turn of the century has been its consistent underperformance, not growing above an inflation-adjusted average annual rate of 4 percent since 2000, and not above 3 percent since 2005. What has come in its stead the past 10 years is the slowest economic growth rate in U.S. history — even slower than the Great Depression. Restoring the U.S. to 3 percent or maybe even 4 percent growth has been one of President Donald Trump’s major goals, but getting there will not be so easy. Just take 2017. On an inflation-adjusted, annualized basis, there was 1.2 percent growth in the first quarter, 3.1 percent in the second quarter and 3.0 percent growth in the third quarter, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. So, to get to 3 percent growth for the year, we’d need 4.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter, right? Wrong. The actual answer would be 14.5 percent. Why? How is that possible? Because annual GDP growth is calculated by the taking the four readings of the real GDP using chained dollars for two consecutive years, averaging each year out…
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Time Magazine’s cover this week is a classic. It blares: “The Wrecking Crew: How Trump’s Cabinet Is Dismantling Government.” Also last week The New York Times ran a lead editorial complaining that team Trump is shrinking at an “unprecedented” pace the regulatory state that was erected to new heights under President Obama. These and other media…
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The centerpiece of the proposed House Republican corporate tax reform is a bet that slashing the top rate from 35 percent to 20 percent will trigger an economic boom that will raise workers’ wages and goose long-term growth. President Donald Trump on Thursday cited a study by the White House Council of Economic Advisers that the…
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President Donald Trump said jobs that were never going to happen are being created thanks to his new policies. Trump made the boast on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday night, in his first interview as president with Laura Ingraham, also the founding editor of LifeZette. “I have been in here 10 months, and we…
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Britain’s economy gently picked up speed in the third quarter, official data showed on Wednesday, strengthening expectations of an interest rate hike next month, despite uncertainty over Brexit. Gross domestic product grew by 0.4 percent in the period from July to September, after expanding by 0.3 percent in the preceding three months, the Office for National…
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Sales of new single-family homes spiked in September, hitting their highest level in a decade after months of declines and sluggish growth, Commerce Department figures showed Wednesday. The sudden jump in sales came despite tightening supply and rising prices, with home-buyers closing on houses in record numbers in the storm-damaged South and in…
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The world’s largest economy continued to expand at a robust pace in third quarter despite being battered by multiple hurricanes, the US Commerce Department reported Friday. Hitting President Donald Trump’s growth target for the second quarter in a row, US GDP grew at three percent for the July-September period, official figures showed. Though only a preliminary…
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Sagging sales of autos held down overall US retail sales in August, with American consumers buying goods and services at their slowest pace in six months, government data showed Friday. However, the Commerce Department said it was unclear to what extent Hurricane Harvey had affected the monthly numbers, with the storm both hurting and helping sales…
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The White House claims it is making progress on tax reform and could roll out part of its plan next week, but the president’s increasingly contentious relationship with lawmakers on the Hill has put a pall over the effort’s progress. President Donald Trump has been using Twitter to blast Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and reportedly…
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Our economy goes hand in hand with quality education. A strong educational system is essential not only to the successful functioning of a democracy, but also to its very future.
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