Trump? Eisenhower? When was the best economy?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Trump says "We have the greatest economy ever" under him, I think history would disagree.
President Donald Trump has plenty of room to brag about the American economy. Calling it the “greatest” on record may be a stretch.
“In many ways this is the greatest economy in the history of America and the best time ever to look for a job!” he tweeted Monday afternoon. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, he repeated that this is the “strongest economy we’ve ever had.”
Indeed, the economy has made major progress since the Great Recession ended in 2009, and that improvement has continued — and even strengthened by some metrics — during Trump’s 16 months in office. Jobless rates among minorities are at or near record lows, openings are at an all-time high and there are more positions available than there are unemployed.
Yet wage growth is moderate, productivity remains tepid and expansion has averaged 2.4 percent on a year-over-year basis since Trump took office, well below the 4.4 percent of the 1950s and 1960s.
“If you want to go back to the golden years, I suggest you go back to a year like 1955,” said Robert Gordon, a Northwestern University economist and author of the book “The Rise and Fall of American Growth.” Dwight D. Eisenhower was president that year. The post-World War II period, up until 1972, “brought sustained increases in the standard of living that are completely different from what we have today.”
Greatest growth
For starters, labeling a single economic era as the greatest in history is subjective because there’s no agreed-upon metric.
Judging solely by gross domestic product, perhaps the simplest way to gauge a nation’s progress, the decades that followed World War II were the hottest in American history. Pent-up consumer demand, a housing boom and a vibrant manufacturing sector all melded into the economy’s Golden Age. By the GDP yardstick, the current pace of the expansion pales in comparison.
That said, Trump seems to be focusing on the labor market, which continues to flex its muscle. There are more job openings than unemployed workers for the first time ever, though that figure comes from data that only stretches back to 2000. A longer-run estimate suggests that the ratio of jobless to opportunities is at its lowest in almost five decades.
Unemployment rates are also at or near the lowest on record for black, Asian and Hispanic workers — a fact Trump has highlighted.
Still, the overall jobless rate — 3.8 percent in May — has been lower in the past, dipping below 3 percent during the 1950s. The time it takes unemployed people to find work also remains elevated. And while wage growth has slowly picked up, past expansions have seen much bigger gains. That’s true even after accounting for today’s modest inflation.
“If you’re a new data scientist, or Ph.D. economist, yeah, it’s a great time to look for a job,” Lawrence Katz, a Harvard University economics professor who served as the Labor Department chief economist during the Clinton administration, said when asked if this is the best time to look for work. “If you’re a janitor, a construction worker in some places — no.”
Katz noted that in the late 1960s and late 1990s, wage growth was booming for such everyday employees. And in the 1960s, jobs put workers on a path toward benefits and economic security in the longer run — more of a rarity today, in a world where unions and pension plans are few and far between.
Michael Bordo, an economics professor at Rutgers University and an authority on monetary history, agrees with Katz on that timing. The best economic period judging by unemployment was the 1960s, he said. In terms of economic growth, it was the 1960s and the 1990s.
As for the Golden Age, “we’re not going to get that back,” Bordo said. While new technologies could help to boost growth higher, the postwar boom’s special conditions are impossible to replicate. It’s more realistic, he said, to shoot for growth that mirrors the 1980s and 1990s.
Northwestern’s Gordon is also doubtful that a return to the “greatest” economy is within reach.
Comparing eras
“In terms of everyday life, a smartphone doesn’t compare with the liberation of women that was made possible by the invention of home appliances,” he said.
Therein lies the trouble with declaring that today’s economy is — or isn’t — the “greatest” ever. Economic progress depends on long-running, hard-to-change trends like labor force size and growth, so making comparisons across time is like judging pancakes against crepes. With different quantities of the key ingredients, results will vary.
In the U.S., where an aging population has been holding down the labor participation rate and birth rates have waned, demographics alone make the GDP figures seen in prior decades tough to match.
The White House economic team appears to be cognizant of America’s tempered prospects — and optimistic within those more-limited parameters.
“Virtually every economist” said 3 percent growth couldn’t be achieved, and “we are now moving into 3 percent zone — that is a huge achievement,” Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, told reporters Wednesday when challenged on the president’s assertion that the economy is the best ever. Progress on boosting growth “in my judgment, is only just beginning,” he said.
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We absolutely agree on this one. For anyone who grew up in the 1950's, there is always the memory of one person being able to raise & support a family, no shared apartments and a thoroughly strong society which provided enormous prosperity, an era of prosperity beyond people's wildest dreams.
Sorry Donald
I look at what my kids and, nieces and, nephews have today and, I have to worry about the future for their kids. Trumps policies are Reaganomics 2.0 or, even 3.0 because Bush II tried the same stuff and, I cannot see a way to get out of it until folks learn that Reaganomics or, "trickle down" doesn't work, that yellow stuff isn't gold.
It goes well beyond Trump. When we came to the point where whole sectors of the economy began to move overseas and the spectre of College graduates unable to find work, we realized that many of our economic policies have become self destructive. That's the government side of all this.
I vaguely remember when credit cards started. I said to myself this isn't going to work, but sure enough, credit ratings & histories were kept and they quickly became common place. They are ok if you are in reasonably good financial shape and they are a complete nightmare for the working poor.
Lots of other factors also play into the global economy we now live and work in. The rest of the world isn’t walking around with baskets of rice on their heads like they were in the fifties and Europe rebuild after we destroyed their manufacturing capabilities in the war. Also our population has exploded since then and that affects supply and demand for labor. There is also all the damage the unions have done over the years destroying manufacturing here.
Yeah, I saw back when Nixon was in office, I have always said it doesn't matter the president that is in office, they may take credit for it or, the heat when things go bad but, it's still up to the company's in the country to make the economy work or, fail. What has caused Reaganomics to fail is that corporations aren't and, weren't willing to do their part, nothing came down from them except yellow liquid and, that won't work as long as they don't do their part and, they won't ever.
They started sooner than that, I remember my dad had a Diners Club card in the early sixty's and, then he had a Shell gas card along with an Exxon card, then he got one of the first American Express cards, the man had more credit than Jimmy Carter has peanuts.
Actually, the unions were responsible for getting all of us a working wage, it is only in the states that don't allow unions were wages became stagnant and, jobs were lost. Company's went overseas because of the lower wages there, that is a given but, it was their greed that caused that, not the wages here in the U.S. or, the unions, they have unions in Europe so, you can't blame them.
Yes the unions boosted wages made the US uncompetitive in a global marketplace and drove manufacturing offshore.
You and, I are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I'm not a union guy, never belonged to one but, I have seen the good they've done over the decades, most of our labor laws are because of unions and, I don't know about you but, I would rather earn 10 dollars or, more per hour and, have insurance at the company I work for than to make .25 cents an hour and, have to worry about medical bills for me and, my family, these are the things unions have done.
Why do you come down on worker's wages, but we never see a complaint about CEO compensation, which has exploded during the same time real wages have gone down? And the only reason we (my family) have health insurance today is because of a union. The wages were NOT too high, they were normal middle class wages. We were part of a thriving middle class for a while, but my kids have been left out of all of it. Pissy wages, no benefits, high cost of living, they can't even afford to have kids. I think this is the most depressing time encountered in my lifetime.
I have no problem with executive wages as they don’t affect me at all. I say good for them they are competing against other executives and if the stockholders feel they are worth the wages good. I do not find this a depressing time as I see economic opportunities everywhere I look. If your kids are struggling economically they should be asking themselves what are they doing wrong and what can they do to improve their earnings.
My veteran son has a degree from UCLA and doesn't need your two cents, and there you go dismissing something that a whole generation of young people are dealing with. There aren't enough jobs with benefits that pay, and those are not stable, often changing, coming and going. There are so many books and articles that explain why this economy is not the same one we grew up in. You say you aren't impacted by the CEO's wages, but you just don't see the bigger picture how it impacts every American. The wealth gap is real, and it has an impact, pretending it doesn't exist doesn't make it go away. Do you really like what America is right now? Are you happy with the face we present to the world? Do you like the way Trump speaks about the people he targets? Do you believe his lies or just ignore them and pretend the its all good so you can keep 'winning'? I really want to know what you see when you watch Trump.
We rebuilt Europe ( a current competitor) with the Marshall Plan.
After we blew it to hell in a hand basket during WWII. What should we have done, just walked away and, said, "Good luck guys."?
They always get the credit or the blame
What has caused Reaganomics to fail is that corporations aren't and, weren't willing to do their part
Reaganomics was an absolute success, a boom which lasted for 20 years
The Europeans did a pretty good job before we entered into the war.
What should we have done, just walked away and, said, "Good luck guys."?
The goal of the Marshall Plan was to prevent Europe from falling under the influence of the Soviet Union. The idea being that strengthening those economies prevent them from turning left
You're joking right?
Yeah, they were doing great.
Every European economy, just like the U.S. economy, was in a depression just before the war started up again, then Hitler took over every European country, except for England and, Russia, and, both of those country's were on the ropes, ready to lose.
Actually, it was to keep them from becoming pilot nations of Russia but, we also felt a responsibility for what had happened to them.
Nope, Not a bit:
The National Bureau of Economic Research in 1999 declared the period 1982-1999 one continuous mega-economic expansion, "the longest sustained period of prosperity in the twentieth century"
Didn't we all live through that?
I think you misunderstood. I meant they did a pretty good job of destroying one another before we arrived. Europe was war torn before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor
I'm sorry, but, what I do remember is seeing my wages drop and, my benefits take a hike all for the corporations to gain a little more profit.
Well, this is true, we helped in that destruction as well, it was called WWI, same war, different time period and, leaders. The European economy's never really recovered from that war and, that is what helped to cause the Great Depression in the U.S. and, in Europe.
I'm sorry too. You are aware that no era of prosperity reached every single individual. That's what's wrong with anecdotal evidence sometimes
The Great Depression was actually caused by the Federal Reserve not doing it's job, according to the great economist Milton Friedman. As for Europe - America sneezed and they caught Pneumonia, in particular Europe's most advanced country - Germany. Germany not only suffered more severely from the Great Depression but it also had to accept blame for the war, had territories taken from it AND had to pay reparations to all the wining European nations. It also was afflicted with runaway inflation and social/political unrest. Thus were the seeds of WWII
When I talk about "trickle down economics" I'm talking about Reaganomics, when I say that yellow stuff running down your back isn't gold I'm talking about Reaganomics. We got pissed on by the corporations and, trump wants to continue that trend.
The Fed couldn't do it's "job" because it had nothing to do with bank regulation and, the stock market at the time, that didn't happen until after the depression started and FDR took office.
And it was a success story
Good talk
Catch you later
Nope, many economists now blame the monetary policies of the Federal reserve at the time:
The Federal Reserve created an unsustainable boom in the 1920s by lowering interest rates. Rothbard estimated that the money supply had increased by 61.8 percent between 1921 and 1929. The inevitable stock market crash was a symptom of the inflationary boom.
Economist Henry Hazlitt once wrote that “worse than the slump itself may be the public delusion that the slump has been caused, not by the previous inflation, but by the inherent defects of ‘capitalism.’” The blame for the Great Depression should be placed on the Federal Reserve, not free market capitalism .
Right wing propaganda? Really? Freedom Works, DAMN.
So, making it possible for everyone to play the stock market off of bank loans didn't have a thing to do with the Great Depression, OK, got it. The dust bowl had nothing to do with the Great Depression, got it. the failure of our economy had nothing to do with company's being too damn greedy and, the banks being too damn greedy, got it.
Still better than what Obama accomplished. The economy was already improving when he took over.
Galen may have us over a barrel. Trumps words taken literally don't hold up against the late 40's & 1950's. Remember, the US emerged from WWII unscathed while Europe & Russia were in ruins. We had all the Steel, a vibrant economy and sole possession of the Atom Bomb. Ah, yes, thus it should always be...
I have an idea. Trump should stop lying. That would solve a lot of problems.
No, that is incorrect and, the statistics prove it. When Obama took office we were losing 700k jobs a month, when he left office we were gaining 400k jobs a month and, the stock market was seeing numbers it had never seen.
LOL, don't want to put anyone over a barrel but, I have to call BS when I see it and, what Trump claimed was pure BS.
If he does you're probably both enjoying it!
Partially true, the economy can be controlled, as was proven when the interstate was built in the fifty's, that allowed for different company's like McDonalds to create a boom and, a new economy, it also opened up areas to expansion in industry, consumer faith came with the opening up of America, making it possible to travel from one end of the country to the other, faster.
That is absolutely true, but what Galen is doing is seizing on Trump's words that the (his) economy is the best ever is false, thus the comparison with the 50's. The economy right now is in great shape and I believe Trump is about to reach another goal, 4% growth. I think we are about to see it!
Not if Trump keeps up with this tariff BS, keep watching the stock market, that is a good indicator of were we are going, so far, it has been dropping every time another country says they are adding more tariffs on American goods.
All youre doing is contesting something he said. The economy is doing quite well under Trump. I'm glad we got to talk about the 50's economy!
I'm not a believer in tariffs, but Trump is right about the fact that our competitors have tariffs against our companies built right into the trade agreements. The stock market is not the indicator because its overvalued with free money. Those lower than the ground interest rates are going to be raised by the Fed. That will take money out of the market.
The real indicator will be GDP
The economy is doing well because of policy's that were in place before Trump took office. Check out the charts that I've provided in some of my posts concerning Obamas numbers.
What some people refuse to see about any of this is the widening great divide. The wealth gap has grown to about the level it was right before the great depression. The middle class is shrinking.
I read an article on business insider that thinks the decline of the middle class is linked to the decline of middle class department stores. While high end retail stores are growing for the wealthy and dollar stores are growing for the rest.
Keep an eye on building contractors and, the price of booze, those seem to be what the Europeans are going after, Kentucky Bourbon is being hit by tariffs going overseas, steel coming into this country are being hit by tariffs by Trump, which means the cost of everything made with steel over here will rise.
I would like to see, for example , the author of this seed interview Trump on tv for 15 or 20 minutes. No script, no questions in advance, and see Trump justify his claim that this is the greatest economy ever.
He would be stammering within 2 minutes. He would repeat his key phrases over and over within that 15 minutes.
Trump is "succeeding" based on his bamboozling of his followers and to a lesser extent his bamboozling of the media.
LOL, Trump can't handle intelligence, this has been proven, he has to be the smartest person in the room, if he isn't he has to find a way to lower the level of the conversation to something he understands, vitriol.
At any rate, the economy continues to improve in spite of the wide spread resistance.
All I want is some truth out of the Right for a change, none of you all want to admit that Obama had anything to do with the improvement of the economy, that his policies is what have gotten us to where we are today.
That's silly.
No one "resists" an improving economy.
I didn't ask what happened during Obama's presidency. What programs or policies that he introduced or created affected the economy directly and in a positive way.
So, everything I listed happened "just because", Really? Must be nice wearing those RW blinders.
John, please stop! Isn't it enough that the economy is in great shape? We need to go out and prove that there were economic periods that were even better?
You really need to get over this fixation with Trump's words.
Why? It's Trumps words that the world listens to and, reacts to, it's Trumps words that will make or, break this country's economy.
Here's the thing - There are those that understand what he means and others who don't. I'm only interested in what he does and I am delighted!!!
Then why weren't you delighted with Obama? Everything that is happening now and, happened right after the election in 2017 were because of Obama, not Trump. What happens in the next year will be on Trump.
Obama didn't do anything that affected the economy in a positive way.
You wish. Do you remember what Obama, who left us $20 Trillion in debt told us about the "new normal"? :
"Whatever happened to the New Normal? First, Obama Democrats told us that what looked like long-term stagnation under President Obama’s economic policies, with growth stuck at 2 percent on average for his whole eight years in office, was the New Normal that the American people were going to have to get used to, the best we could do now.
That was after the worst recession since the Great Depression, making 10 years of insignificant growth, even though the historical pattern is the worse the recession the stronger the recovery.
Republicans who argued that we could still do much better with 3 percent, even 4 percent growth were derided as out-of-touch, behind-the-times throwbacks.
But as soon as the economy started to peek out into the 3-4 percent range in 2017-18, we were told this was Mr. Obama’s recovery at last. As Steve Forbes suggested, this was like the fired coach of the last place team taking credit for the team’s sudden winning record under the new coach.
President Trump said the suddenly more robust economy starting on his election day was due to the economic policy changes he promised, and then implemented. That included the sharp cuts for both businesses and workers in his tax reform plan, especially slashing America’s highest in the world corporate tax rates to 21 percent, and the pass through rates on mostly smaller businesses effectively by 20 percent.
And it included Mr. Trump ’s massive deregulation, eliminating 22 regulations for every new reg adopted. Mr. Trump in particular liberated American energy producers to ultimately lead the world in production of oil, natural gas and coal, not just energy independence, but energy world dominance.
Tax cut and deregulation policies were also central to Ronald Reagan’s historic boom, ultimately lasting a generation, 25 years from late 1982 to late 2007.
Mr. Obama’s economic policies were just the opposite in both respects. He ultimately raised the rates of virtually every major federal tax, except corporate tax rates, already highest in the world, counting state corporate rates.
And Mr. Obama was effectively the Regulation President, especially on energy, where he was well on his way to shutting down the coal industry, along with sharp restrictions on oil production on federal lands and waters, and natural gas in his gunsights next. Only the private sector’s fracking revolution saved oil and gas from Mr. Obama’s regulatory scythe.
You might think that Mr. Obama stubbornly pursuing the opposite, anti-growth policies as Mr. Trump and Mr. Reagan might explain why he got the opposite results.
Indeed, his policies were documented to produce the worst economic recovery from a recession since the Great Depression, in terms of unemployment, economic growth, wage growth, income growth, poverty, even inequality. (Peter Ferrara, “Why the United States Has Suffered the Worst Economic Recovery Since the Great Depression,” Heartland Institute, August, 2016).
Plus recovery from the 11 other recessions since the Great Depression took about two years. Eight would again be the worst by far.
The latest jobs report finds wages rising again after 8-10 years of stagnation, up by 2.9 percent over the last 12 months, the largest since 2009. Pay increases during Mr. Trump ’s first year in fact were the highest since the recession ended in 2009.
The National Association for Business Economics reports more companies are now increasing wages and salaries than in the last 18 years. The Institute for Supply Management reports that U.S. manufacturing is expanding at the fastest pace in 13 years. As everyone should know by now, unemployment is the lowest in 17 years, for blacks and Hispanics the lowest ever in American history.
Are these results due to Mr. Obama’s anti-growth economic policies, or to Mr. Trump ’s pro-growth changes reversing those policies? With economic growth of 4 percent, the economy doubles every 17 years, eight times after 50 years. With economic growth of 2 percent, the economy doubles every 35 years.
Mr. Obama’s permanent economic stagnation was on track over the long run to fundamentally transform America as he promised, into a Third World country, like Peru. Democrats seem to prefer that, apparently thinking they could then more easily dominate America as a one-party state.
But that deserves exactly zero credit for the economic recovery from the Great Recession, which took Mr. Trump ’s historic surprise victory and fundamental policy course correction, to finally show up in 2017-18. The economy will grow 5 percent to 6 percent for a couple of years, to catch up to where it should be on the long-term GDP growth trendline.
• Peter Ferrara is a senior fellow at the Heartland Institute and a senior policy adviser to the National Tax Limitation Foundation.
Suuurrrree, keep telling yourself that, maybe one day you'll really believe it.
I have yet to see any conservative paper say anything good about Obama, as for the other sources mentioned. Well, the Heartland Institute? Really? This is from their "about us" page,
I think we can assume from the bolded part that they are Right Wing and, have a hand in keeping anything Obama from being credited.
That's like saying "I went in to see my personal doctor after having been in a severe car crash and he gave me all the good news, there will be few scars, I won't lose the function in my right arm, my recovery in almost complete. The hospital that first treated me didn't do anything that effected my health outcomes. Sure they did the surgeries, set my broken bones, sewed me up, but all that hurt, it was my personal doctor who checked on me after I got out of recovery when I finally felt almost back to normal so he should get all the credit...".
If Obama had done nothing but accept the Bush budget the American economy would have died on the operating table. The fact that the 8 years under Obama was the road to recovery and we didn't just spring out of the bed in 2009 completely healed from our self inflicted wounds just because we had elected the first black President should have surprised anyone. Yes, it was a tough crawl back from the brink of financial ruin, something apparently all Republicans want to conveniently forget. They just want to blame Obama for seeing America crawling during those years, they don't want to think about what got us there.
Agreed.
Why would a Conservative paper be saying "anything good" about a left wing radical who waged war on Conservatism?
It's like the way progressives hate Trump. Trump is not going to do the kind of things liberals like, so ya it's understandable.
I know you won't believe this but, Obama was a centrist.
I don't like Trump because of the way he thinks he has to run the office of POTUS.
Are you saying that almost 2/3rds of the country is "Liberal" because, that's how many people say they don't like the way Trump is doing things.
No.
He was a moderate conservative. He would have been a good Rockefeller Republican.
His signature legacy, Obamacare, was designed by a conservative think-tank. He withdrew from Bush's wars... but slowly... oh so slowly. He maintained strict border controls, and expelled more people than Bush had.
But his worst deed - the one that will ruin him in the history books (if Big Brother and the Ministry of Truth allow it) is his failure to go to the mat for Merrick Garland.
Barack Obama, a constitutional scholar, certainly knew the consequences of allowing the GOP to control all of the Federal government. I sometimes wonder if he was not a mole working in secret for Mitch McConnell.
You mean compared to Joe Stalin?
I don't like Trump because of the way he thinks he has to run the office of POTUS.
Then you are fine with his policies?
Are you saying that almost 2/3rds of the country is "Liberal" because, that's how many people say they don't like the way Trump is doing things.
Absolutely not. Please show me exactly what they are saying?
No, compared to a true definition of Centrist. As I've said in the past their are those out there that are so far Right they can't see left, you are one of those.
Where did I say that? Trumps policies and, thoughts run hand in hand on twitter, if you want to know what his policies are look at his twitter feed, look at who he likes as leaders. What Trump says at rally's is simply something to fool his base into thinking he cares about them.
Look at the polls.
Bob, I can agree with half of what you have said, Obama was a Centrist, most of us have gone either far right or, far left in the past 12 years. Yes, he was tough on immigration and, Obamacare was a Republican proposal but, he used the Republican model tp try to get the Republicans to vote for it. He should have stood up for Merrick Garland and, fought for him but, I doubt it would have done any good considering at the time Mitch McConnell knew he had the votes to kill the nomination in the Senate.
No!
That's the right's bullshit!
The right has gone crazy, the left has not .
"Both sides do it" is what the the people going batshit say in an attempt to impose on everyone the idea of a symmetry that is not there . The left's most leftish ideas are less crazy - less expensive and more useful - than the tax cuts that the Republicans have already written into law.
Please don't be taken in by their BS, and even more... please do not repeat it!
What I am saying Bob, is that calling Obama an Eisenhower Republican isn't stating the truth, it's close but, it's not the truth, Obama was a centrist by the old standards, by the standards used today then yes, he would be considered a conservative, just as those on the right look at me now and, think that I'm a "librul".
OK.
THOSE AREN'T HIS POLICIES!
The Tax Cut Bill, his stand on immigration, national security and growing the economy - are his policies!
WTF?
Twitter is where the man tells us what he "thinks".
The capacity of the Unthinking Faithful TM to ignore reality is astounding!
Sorry, Tweets & policies are two different things. I would think you guys would be exhausted by Trump tweets by now, evidently not.
The tax cut bill for the rich is doing nothing for the average American. Immigration and, national security?
You should do more reading,
The "growing economy" isn't because of Trump and, according to the experts because of Trumps tariff war it will soon be a shrinking economy, farmers and, fishermen are already feeling it.
Trump express's his thoughts on his policies in his tweets, you can predict what he will do next by what he tweets.
They are only getting "crumbs" , right nancy?
40 bucks was the "End all" though. Best thing to happen to Americans since Sliced bread.
One check from your employer of around a thousand dollars isn't much when the shareholders on the board get golden parachutes and, stock buy backs in the millions and, then a few months later your job goes overseas putting you out of work.
I don't read Vox. How would anyone know what Americans really think? We shall find out in November
Trump's policies are based on his campaign promises
Always worried about what the other guy got? The reason the Corporate Tax was brought down to planet Earth was to get business to return to the US.
It is better than no check at all
Yep, your right, Trump would never say anything that reflects his policies in a twitter feed.
Maybe you should try seeing what immigrants think of this kind of BS.
There is an immigrant running for governor of Michigan, in one of his commercials he talks about Trump calling people like him an "infestation", he's a scientist, business owner and, now a citizen of the U.S., his name is Shri Thanedar.
You should really do some reading, something other than FOX or, Trump tweets.
I spoke of golden parachutes and, stock buy backs for the board of directors, I didn't speak of the corporation itself but, if you want to go there, I can tell you why the corporations left America, it wasn't because of high taxes like the Right claims, it was because they decided that paying .75 cents a day was better for their bottom line than paying someone in the U.S. a living wage.
That check was a one time payment, they will never see that bonus again, however, the corporate bosses will continue to get their bonus's and, golden parachutes and, stock buy backs as long as the tax cuts stay in place and, with Trumps tariffs in place we can expect to see those same one time bonus receivers get a "pink slip" in the near future.
Did you turn yourself down? To many of those that received those checks it was a welcome prize. It was a positive thing but I guess you're of the mindset of "what did you give me today"ism.
LOL, I'm retired but, I do have children and, nieces and, nephews that work and, I don't like seeing them getting the crumbs from the corporate table.
I'm sure it was, Carnies call those "Booby Prizes", very cheap to get and, easily pleasing to the "Rubes".
As I said above, I'm retired, it doesn't effect me but, it does effect the ones I love and, those are the ones I care about.
In my opinion a lot of the boom at the time also had to do with the GI bill.
Newly returning vets could go to school, get low interest mortgages etc.
This certainly helped a lot, I know my dad went to college under the GI bill and, he also bought his homes under it as well but, it also had to do with how the government worked together to make things better for all Americans, Eisenhower built the interstate system at that time and, that helped create a boom in the economy anywhere the interstate went.
It's kinda nonsense to speak of "best economy" unless the definition of "best" is specified. The average employee is untouched by the Dow, while the average multi-billionaire doesn't care much about wages. How is productivity evolving? Inflation?
And of course, we're not just interested in the current positions of these indicators, nor injust "are they rising or falling. We need to know how fast they're changing.
And then... most of the credit or blame should go to the Fed.
The economy is currently doing very well... for the rich... and not so well for all the others.
It's kinda like saying "a good driver". Is that safe, economical, gentle, ...?
And, I think here is were we have the truth of the story I seeded, the author says that if you are using GDP then Eisenhower bets Trump by a large margin, as do all the other economy's up until the late 1970's.
GDP gradually rises over time, so the highest is often the most recent.
So a more pertinent criterion would be the rate of growth. It's good under Trump... was better under Obama.
Yes hopefully the Fed will boost interest rates a little faster now that we’ve blown past their two percent target rate for inflation. The purchasing power of our savings is being eroded by inflation. This is driving people towards riskier investments like equities.
Inflation is about 2%. A healthy economy needs at least that, maybe slightly more.