Let’s not forget that the actions of the administration these last 4 years of giving billions to other countries, trillions in spending bills using money we don’t have, and in-effective government COVID mandates, extended shutdowns of small/medium business has led to the worst inflation in most of our lifetimes.
Prior to that, the economy was pretty good prior to COVID. My cost of living was certainly cheaper/better. And remember those supply chain issues…our over dependence on Chinese products severely exacerbated its effects.
But I agree, we’ll see what happens. In any event it’s nice we can discuss without name calling, etc…and agree to disagree without hard feelings toward one another. It’s how grown women and men should act….
You need to break economy and cost of living into to separate buckets.
Economy that Trump had when he took office was all Obama despite Trump saying it was all him. Mainstream economists say the economy was strong before Trump took office
Greg Mankiw, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under George W. Bush, states that
“… the economy was in fine shape at the end of the Obama administration, despite what President
Trump sometimes asserts.”7
A substantial part of economic progress under Trump occurred before his signature economic
policy took effect
President Trump’s most significant economic policy, his $1.9 trillion tax cuts, did not take effect
until January 2018—a year after he took office. By that time, unemployment had dropped from 4.7
to 4.1 percent, household incomes had increased $850 and 2.3 million new jobs had been created.
The tax cuts may have caused a slight “sugar high” – but at a very high price
The 2017 tax cuts likely added some fuel to the already-hot economy because they increased
corporate profits (benefiting shareholders) and gave individuals more money to spend. However,
many economists say that the “sugar high” from the tax cuts is wearing off. In fact, business
investment has declined for two consecutive quarters and a recent analysis by the New York Times
found no relationship between the size of the tax cut companies and industries received and their
investments.
8
In the long term, the $1.9 trillion in new federal debt likely will weigh down the
economy.9
Trump’s trade war hurts consumers, businesses and the economy
American businesses and consumers, not foreigners, pay tariffs. Although the tariffs hurt China by
reducing demand for more Chinese goods, they also hurt American businesses that pay the tariffs,
American consumers who buy the higher-priced products, American farmers who are hit with
reciprocal tariffs, and the economy, which is weighed down by the interaction of these forces.
One analysis finds that the trade war with China has already cost 300,000 American jobs and the
number could rise to 450,000 by the end of the year.
10 Furthermore, the Congressional Budget
Office estimates that the trade war will reduce GDP by 0.3 percent in 2020.11 There clearly are
American casualties in the trade war—the magnitude of the long-term damage is yet to be seen. - joint economic committee.
Trump second half of his presidency was marked with COVID. Here the economy collapse. Many economists point to the lack of response by the Trump. When he did responded, he did it with the CARE act. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2020, in response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United State. That is 2.2 trillion being pumped into the economic system but nowhere to go.
M2 is your friend or your enemy. M2 is the money supply, how fast does it take a dollar to return back to spender. Simple terms The longer it takes, the lower price changes. The faster is takes the higher the prices. Why? Supply and demand. Inflation was driven from unprecedented amounts of money getting pumped into the system when there is restricted ways to spend it.
Cost of living, cost living is a direct reflection of inflation. We had high inflation because M2 and a distorted supply chain. A large portion of this can be attributed to Trump policies. The owner of the inflation was Biden because Biden took office as we were still dealing with COVID. Once we exited COVID and people could really spend did inflation show up. Keep in mind the average American savings accounts were 30% of their yearly income. Compared to a historic average of 6%. That money got pumped into the system so fast and people were willing to pay more for the same product. Corporations were more than happy to sell at higher price and book the profit. People can blame their cost of living increases on Corporate America, The US consumer, and the 2.2 trillion cares act that got the ball rolling, and Trump because of the delayed response to COVID.
Finally, inflation has come down and is trending towards the historical average of 2% but honestly it seems the Fed will be targeting 3% inflation year over year. The economy is doing significantly well. The difference is higher prices still exist but people still have the same wages equivalent of a 1970. This number looks at wage inflation. So wages have the same spending power of the 1970s but yet prices of goods are much much higher. As Trump takes office the likelihood of continue success is dimming. I based this on his economic plans and immigration. We saw a preview in his first term but it looks like this term will be more scorched earth. Will my family benefit, yes. I will have reduced taxes, make more money in terms of pay, my investments will be a push. Biggest risk is losing all the funding for my special needs child through the department of education.
BTW Trump added 8.4 trillion to our deficit with 4.8 of it being non COVID related. The remaining is the CARE act. Biden has add 4.8 trillion but half of it was his COVID response.
