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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1113750)	1/28/2019 11:42:02 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 1578138

Ranking the Trump Economy The president brags about U.S. prosperity. But conditions improved more under his predecessors. (Even Carter.) By Matthew A. Winkler January 28, 2019, 5:00 AM EST Stock and bond markets are flashing warning signs of a U.S. recession just over the horizon, and President Donald Trump is having none of it: The United States has a great economic story to tell. Number one in the World, by far! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019 Investors may be gloomy about the vanishing gap between short- and long-term U.S. Treasury yields, the dreaded yield-curve inversion that tends to forecast recessions, but the president is focusing on the bright side. Last year was the best year for American Manufacturing job growth since 1997, or 21 years. The previous administration said manufacturing will not come back to the U.S., “you would need a magic wand.” I guess I found the MAGIC WAND - and it is only getting better! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2019 The U.S. economy is indeed doing well in many ways. Job gains and consumer spending are robust, wages are rising, inflation isn’t a problem. Things have slowed down lately and optimism has waned a bit, but the conventional economic indicators have been strong. In Trump’s view, that entitles him to claim that his administration has produced “the strongest economy in the history of our nation,” as he put it last June. But while the recession forecasts have not been proven right, Trump’s boast can pretty much be proven wrong. Measured by 14 gauges of economic activity and financial performance, the U.S. economy is not doing as well under Trump as it did under all but one of the four Republicans and three Democrats who have occupied the White House since 1976. These yardsticks, compiled by Bloomberg, assess a broad range of activity — from job and wage growth to the strength of the real estate and auto industries to the health of stock and bond investments that deliver security to workers and retirees alike. They are: Total nonfarm payrollsManufacturing jobsValue of the dollar compared to major currenciesGross domestic productFederal budget deficit (or surplus) as a percentage of GDPDisposable income per capitaHousehold debt as a percentage of disposable incomeHome equityCar salesHourly wagesProductivityBond-market performanceThe Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of U.S. stocksGap between U.S. and global stock performanceBy compiling and ranking the annual improvement in these measures under each of the last seven presidents, an average economic-progress score can be assigned. The scoring gives equal weight to each measure to avoid confusion over valuations that anyone could consider arbitrary. By these measures, we reported two years ago, the economy under President Bill Clinton was No. 1. It still is, having strengthened the most during his years in office, 1993 to 2001. President Barack Obama, who took office in 2009 during the worst recession since the Great Depression, left in 2017 after the second-biggest improvement. President Ronald Reagan is No. 3 (1981-1989), followed by Presidents George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) and Jimmy Carter (1977-1981). That leaves Trump and President George W. Bush, whose years in office ended in 2009 with the financial crisis that plunged the economy into its deepest decline in 80 years. While the No. 6 Trump economy shows no signs of replicating the disaster of the No. 7 Bush economy, he already lags Carter’s performance. continues at bloomberg.com