Source: The Wall Street Journal (behind paywall).
WSJ comments favorably on yesterday’s remarkable GDP growth number:
“The U.S. economy grew at a record 33.1% in the third quarter, even after most government transfer payments expired. When politicians lift their lockdowns, and Americans can get on with their prudently cautious lives even in a pandemic, people work, business invests and the economy grows.”
If there ever was confirmation that President Trump’s economic policies are effective, a bounceback economy would be it. You could make a case, too, that we don’t need any more economic stimulus from Congress. We just need to get back to work.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
More laughable Trump nonsense. If you gain 30% in this quarter after losing 30% from where you started in the previous quarter, you are behind. That is just the cruelty of math.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-wants-credit-fastest-gdp-growth-history-here-s-reality-n1244967
Here is Trump’s actual economic record in six charts – it was STILL the Obama economy until Trump blew the pandemic response. Lest we forget, there were more jobs added during Obama’s last three years than were added during Trump’s first three. The only amazing thing is the astonishing credulity of his supporters who are blind to the evidence shown below . . .
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45827430
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RE: “If you gain 30% in this quarter after losing 30% from where you started in the previous quarter, you are behind. That is just the cruelty of math.”
Math isn’t the issue. The material economy is.
RE: “it was STILL the Obama economy until Trump blew the pandemic response.”
That’s a nice fantasy, but if true the credit for a strong economy able to bounce back from the pandemic still goes to Trump.
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You can call reality a “fantasy” until you turn blue. The actual economic measures tell the true story. There was no magic inflection point when Trump became President not in the first three years of his term.
And, if truth be told, Trump struggled to keep the Obama economy going and was only able to do so with floods of UNNEEDED deficit spending.
As far as bouncing back, that bounce is about to evaporate as the uncontrolled virus raises its ugly head this fall and winter as it was predicted to do many months ago UNLESS strong measures were taken. They weren’t.
And, by the way, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats lead the government response that was needed to preserve the economy. She gets the credit – not Trump who merely signed the legislation created in the House under her leadership.
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RE: “The actual economic measures tell the true story. There was no magic inflection point when Trump became President not in the first three years of his term.”
Yes, that’s the exact fallacy that causes the fantasy that Trump presided over a continuation of the Obama economy: There being no “magic inflection point,” there was no Trumpian “magic.”
In reality, it is often difficult to link economic trend lines with specific government policies (or presidents), but your own charts show one such correlation: a steady decline in the powerty rate down to an historic low on Trump’s watch.
Your logic amounts to saying, “I don’t see it, therefore it isn’t there.”
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Your logic amounts to saying, “I don’t see it, therefore it isn’t there.”
Well, that’s better than yours . . . “I don’t see it, therefore it IS there.”
Yes, the poverty rate continued its favorable trend under Trump. The question is, what did HE do to change the trajectory of the economy. There is no evidence his magic potions – tax cuts for billionaires and throwing out government rules and regulations – had much positive effect at all. As noted, even though he laughably claims the best economy in the history of the universe, the creation of new jobs actually slowed from the record of his predecessor. In other words, his silly claims are just another part of his con game.
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And GDP that was supposed to grow at massive 4, 5 or 6% has lagged behind President Predecessor’s.
Ali said he was the greatest of all time. I believe, at the time, he was accurate. Trump? Meh.
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“The government’s rescue package provided a lifeline for many businesses and the unemployed, juicing up consumer spending, which on its own contributed 76.3% to the surge in GDP.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-idUSKBN27E24T
It cost us about 3 Trillion plus of more debt to keep the economy from tanking any further. Obviously that worked, but the next stimulus is not until next year at best.
Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t give a hoot about the economy. The new surge is severe and hitting the rural areas hard. Whether or not there is another shutdown in those regions may be moot if people are getting sick by the thousands. Sick folks can’t work or play, with or without masks.
Despite the bravado of some conservative leaders, the facts are simple. Without a vaccine that Americans can access, that actually works and more importantly, they have confidence in, folks just are not going to travel, eat out, go the concerts, shop in person, etc. And those are big deals in our economy.
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” Without a vaccine that Americans can access, that actually works and more importantly, they have confidence in”…
A vaccine will NOT eradicate the virus. It will only help prevent folks from getting sick. And only if they are willing to take it. Lots of hurdles to overcome. Especially with questionable facts on efficacy and endurance. Then there is getting the anti-vax crowd to just go away. After they have received the vaccine, of course.
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