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So much for the Trump economy
The problem isn’t just the Coronavirus
The past few days have seen historic drops in the stock market due to rising fears over the impact of the coronavirus on the world economy. It appears that the fears associated with this potential pandemic are not overstated, with the CDC warning that it’s just a matter of time before it affects the United States.
Trump, for his part, rather than playing the role of leader that we would expect when facing such a crisis, has taken to blaming the media and Democrats for overblowing the risk. Reportedly, these stock market drops, the newly inverted yield curve, and the potential for a recession in this election year have him and his allies deeply worried.
All the attention directed at the economic impact of the coronavirus misses a critical point. Despite claims to the contrary focusing on the low unemployment rate and high consumer confidence, by a number of measures, the U.S. economy isn’t actually doing so well.
Consider the following. Trump promised us 4, 5 or even 6 percent economic growth. Such growth would be extremely impressive considering the fact that in high-growth period of the 1990s, the highest annual GDP growth we experienced was 4.88 in 1998. Since Trump has been president, GDP has grown 2.8 percent in 2017, 2.52 percent in 2018, and 2.32…
