Economists Rated Trump, Obama on the US Economy... It Wasn't Even Close
A recent survey of economists reveals that President Donald Trump’s policies, not former President Barack Obama’s, have led to the booming U.S. economy.
The Wall Street Journal surveyed 68 business, financial and academic economists asking who was responsible for strengthening the economy.
Most of the economists “suggested Mr. Trump’s election deserves at least some credit,” and the majority said that he had been “somewhat” or “strongly” responsible for job creation, gross domestic product growth and the rising stock market.
The Trump administration’s policies for lighter regulation and the passage of the tax bill were credited for the “pro-growth” environment, according to The Hill.
Ninety percent of the economists surveyed also thought that the tax bill would make way for more GDP expansion in the next two years.
Economists in the same survey taken last year gave mixed feedback on Obama’s policies, according to The Hill. Though his policies were rated positive for financial stability, they were neutral-to-negative for GDP growth and negative for long-term growth.
In December, Obama took credit for the nation’s strong economy in a speech to a conference of mayors in Chicago. “We saw the longest streak of job creation in American history by far, a streak that still continues by the way,” he said. “Thanks Obama.”
Trump, on the other hand, rated positive for long-term economic gains. Economists, according to The Hill, credit the higher business confidence that came with Trump’s election and the increased spending on capital goods.
“It’s an overall sense that you’re not going to face any new regulatory fights,” Granger MacDonald, a home builder in Kerrville, Texas, said to the New York Times. “We’re not spending more, which is the main thing. We’re not seeing any savings, but we’re not seeing any increases.”
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average reached 26,000 points for the first time in its 121-year history.
This milestone came after the Dow blew past the 25,000-point mark just seven trading days prior, which was a broken record in and of itself.
The economic growth has not been isolated to just the stock market. Unemployment in the country is at record-lows and U.S. companies have lined up in tandem to announce wage increases and bonuses for their employees.
Rapid job growth has lowered unemployment for all Americans, with employers in the country adding nearly 2.1 million jobs last year — the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million, according to Fox News.
The U.S. Treasury estimated that 90 percent of U.S. workers will get more take-home pay as soon as next month based on changes made by the new tax law.
Individuals could be affected by new tax brackets, lower income taxes, a near-doubling of the standard deduction and the removal of personal exemptions and deductions.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tried to convince voters that the wage increases and bonuses were only “crumbs” during her press meeting last week.
As CNBC reported, House Speaker Paul Ryan criticized pundits “telling mistruths, disguising the facts of this thing” in an effort to unfairly malign the tax plan’s impact.
“But when we get this done, when people see their withholding improving, when they see the jobs occurring, when they see a simpler tax code, that’s what’s going to produce the results,” he said. “And results are going to be what makes this popular.”
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