Christopher C. Doll: Think life better under Trump? Check the numbers
Donald Trump’s remaining defenders point to the economy as one of his successes. Let’s review the evidence:
▪ While the stock market had a good year in 2017, the Standard & Poor’s 500 grew at a faster pace in President Obama’s first year (30 percent) in office than in Trump’s first year (22 percent).
▪ America’s trade deficit was worse in Trump’s first year than under any of Obama’s 8 years. Job growth was slower in 2017 than in any of the previous six years.
▪ Wage growth declined after Trump took office. The strength of the dollar decreased over 10 percent in 2017.
▪ Tourism to the USA decreased 4.2 percent, despite the weaker dollar making international travel to the USA more affordable. Further, Trump’s protectionist trade policies will hinder the USA in the global economy.
President Obama supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Trump pulled out of it. The remaining countries are likely to move forward among themselves, simply excluding the USA. And instead of “draining the swamp,” Trump’s crony capitalism is a gross distortion of the natural corrections of the free market.
Trump can bloviate and “rage tweet” all he wants. The facts don’t change.
Christopher C. Doll, Salida
This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Christopher C. Doll: Think life better under Trump? Check the numbers."