Four Ways the Skyrocketing Economy Is Helping All Americans Thanks to Trump
Liberal economists predicted that the stock market would tank after Donald Trump was elected president. That didn’t quite work out for them.
Now that the Dow has skyrocketed past 23,000 and is more than halfway to 24,000 as of this writing, they seem to have two different strategies, at least to this observer: they either a) say that it was all thanks to Barack Obama and his “long game” or b) say that it doesn’t actually benefit everyday Americans living on Main Street.
The first one is pretty easy to put the lie to. The Dow is a measure of confidence; look where it was back before the election and where it’s gone since. That should tell you what investors think of President Trump’s economic policies, both implemented and proposed.
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However, if you’re in doubt about the latter point, The Associated Press just published an article that has four good reasons why the stock market and improving economy is helping all Americans.
1) Stock portfolios are way, way up.
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As the kids might like to say, obvious point is obvious. That doesn’t make it any less salient, though.
A report from the Federal Reserve released earlier this week revealed that the net worth of Americans rose 1.8 percent to $96.2 trillion in the April-June period.
That meant that stock portfolios increased by a total of $1.1 trillion. That makes Americans more confident — and, as the AP points out, consumer confidence is key to economic growth. Consumer spending makes up 70 percent of economic activity in the country, something that’s especially important around this time of year.
2) Home values are also up.
The report also said that home values are up by $600 billion dollars. That’s a pretty big chunk of change, especially since home values are still making their way back up since bottoming out in 2012.
Perhaps more importantly, home ownership stakes are up to 58.4 percent, the highest average equity stake since 2006.
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3) Fewer mortgages are underwater.
Underwater mortgages — mortgages where the house was worth less than the amount remaining on the repayment — were one of the hallmarks of the 2008 crash. They peaked at 26 percent back in 2009.
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So, where are they now? According to new data, at only 5.4 percent, a relatively low figure when you look at what happened right after the Great Recession started.
4) Lower- and middle-class Americans are also seeing gains.
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When these sorts of reports come out, the media loves to focus on inequality numbers. And, yes, inequality exists; it’s always existed and it always will exist. However, few decide to focus on just how the lives of everyday Americans are getting better.
For the poorest fifth of Americans, their share of American wealth is 3.1 percent, according to a recent Census Bureau report. That’s the same as it was back in 2014. However, since the amount of wealth has increased, so has the amount that goes to them — even if the percentage hasn’t.
And while the middle fifth had their share of the pie reduced from 14.3 percent from 14.25 percent over the same period, middle-earners also saw earnings increase for the second year straight after seven years of stagnancy. Also, considering that home ownership is one of the primary vehicles of wealth accumulation for the middle class — indeed, the largest — housing price gains help too.
This is yet more proof that the Dow Jones is far from just a number. And, with a Republican in the White House and Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, it continues to go up. If we can see both deliver on substantive tax reform, few should expect it to retreat anytime soon, either. https://conservativetribune.com/skyrocketing-economy-trump/
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