In 2016, when President Donald Trump was campaigning to black Americans, the appeal he made was a simple one, “What have you got to lose?”
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The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an inflation-adjusted 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019, upping the ante for the remaining quarters in order to get to 3 percent growth for the year, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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by Grace Carr Several states are cutting taxes and putting money aside to protect themselves during future recessions as state economies continue to boom since President Donald Trump took office. Almost every U.S. state is experiencing a thriving economy; 48 states will meet or exceed revenue expectations, according to a survey from The National Conference of State Legislatures, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. “States have come off of a strong last fiscal year, and the economy is strong so they’re expecting it to continue,” Tax Policy Center senior fellow Kim Rueben said. “It could mean more spending or cutting taxes.” Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson slashed the state’s top income tax rate to 5.9 percent from 6.9 percent over the next two years. “As we attract more business, we will create more jobs, and higher-paying jobs, which will lead to higher salaries and an improved quality of life for all Arkansans,” Hutchinson said after signing the bill, according to Banner News. “This reduction enhances Arkansas’s reputation as one of the most business-friendly states in the region,” he added. Arkansas has a long-term reserve fund balance of $125 million, according to TheWSJ. South Carolina is considering providing a tax…
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by Harlan Hill The Trump economic boom is still in full swing, with both hiring and wages continuing to grow robustly, according to the latest jobs report. The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in November, keeping unemployment at a historic low of 3.7 percent — a figure not seen since the 1960s. These 155,000 new jobs follow revised an October total of 237,000. The numbers are even more impressive because they come from such a solid starting point — we’re well past the point of merely replacing jobs lost during the recession. These numbers reflect solid expansion within the American economy, as new and growing enterprises scramble to fill job openings with American workers. This is something historic — the return to full employment in America. Even the manufacturing sector, which conventional wisdom long presumed to be in permanent decline due to globalization, added 27,000 jobs last month, pushing the total number of new manufacturing jobs created since the President took office above 400,000. Meanwhile, only one sector had a noticeable drop in employment: government workers. Full employment isn’t just about people getting off the breadline by taking any job they can get; it means people are finding jobs they actually…
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by Kelsey Harkness Tom Condon has seen Jamison Doors through many of the company’s ups and downs. A factory worker for 28 years, Condon has survived multiple rounds of layoffs, diligently scribing metal and performing other tasks to help piece together the cold storage doors the company’s been making for more than 100 years. Now he’s enjoying the good times of the company, with bonuses given because of tax reform enabling him to take his family, including his two adult children with cerebral palsy, on a nicer vacation than the family could usually afford. Before the election of President Donald Trump, John T. Williams, chairman and chief executive officer of Jamison Doors, said the policies of the federal government “had not been kind to us.” “The economy has not been good to us and we’ve had a pretty rocky road,” he told The Daily Signal. But since then, “the business climate changed in a significantly positive way.” “Now not all of it could be attributed to the election,” Williams explained, “but the general attitude seemed to change because of the prospect of fewer regulations in tax reform and a generally positive attitude toward businesses and building the economy.” Condon, and…
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Main Street continues to flourish under the Trump administration. The National Federation of Independent Business reports that optimism is at a 45-year high among America’s small businesses. The “Small Business Optimism Index” – a monthly gauge of sentiment among the owners – has broken the record for the measurement, established 45 years ago.
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Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison sounded alarm bells about the impact of the recently-passed American tax cuts on Australia’s economy. If Australia doesn’t pass its own version of the Trump tax cuts, Morrison fears the country will take a hit to its GDP of up to 1 percent. Morrison initially proposed a $65 billion tax cut, saying it will add 1 percent to Australia’s GDP. After Trump’s cut, however, Morrison warned that the cuts are necessary for the country’s economy not to contract.
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Advance Financial’s Chief Experience Officer Tina Hodges sent a welcome email on Friday to employees in all 84 of the company’s locations in Tennessee. The email announced that due to President Trump’s successful passage of tax reforms and cuts, the company will be sharing the considerable corporate tax savings with its employees in the form of increased 401(k) contributions, profit sharing, and for their local communities, increases in donations to their charity, the Advance Financial Foundation. The combined effect of the changes announced Friday morning will include an additional $500,000 to employees and more than $550,000 to community organizations, for a total of a little more than $1 million annually. Advance Financial is not alone in their decision to raise worker benefits in response to the tax cuts. Companies around the country have announced similar programs since the passage of President Trump’s signature economic program this week. Banking giant Wells Fargo announced earlier this week that they will use their tax savings to ratchet their employees’ starting wage to $15 an hour, and next year, they would increase their charitable giving by $400,000. Fifth Third Bank announced they will follow suit with a $15 an hour starting wage. AT&T, Comcast, Boeing, and other companies…
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