Competitiveness Rank Of No. 1 Makes It Official — U.S. Economy Is Great Again
Competitiveness: It might not make a lot of mainstream newspapers, so let us inform you: The World Economic Forum just ranked the U.S. as the world's most competitive economy for the first time since 2008. A lot has happened since then, but mostly the U.S.' No. 1 ranking is a result of the surprise election of Donald Trump.
It's also yet another bit of evidence for why policies truly matter. The last time the U.S. stood atop the WEF global ranking of 140-plus countries, President Obama had just been elected. But he had yet to sign the growth-killing Dodd-Frank and ObamaCare bills, or a wasteful "stimulus" of nearly $1 trillion.
For the next eight years, the U.S.' competitiveness ranking slid, pretty much until Trump was elected and reversed the slide with tax cuts, deregulation and trade renegotiations that pushed U.S. GDP growth roughly 50% higher than it was under Obama.
It was a stark admission by the global group, which includes many of the world's left-leaning elite and superwealthy CEOs and entrepreneurs, of the strides made under Trump. For the record, the U.S. ranked as low as seventh place but got no higher than No. 3 under Obama.
As Breitbart.com aptly put it, "Davos just declared that America is great again."
Competitiveness: U.S. Back On Top
The WEF's members and data sets gave the U.S. a ranking of 85.6 out of 100, making it "the country closest to the frontier of competitiveness." That means basically it's the most cutting-edge economy in the world, thanks to its entrepreneurial culture, flexible and well-educated labor market, and powerful and open financial markets, which "are among the several factors that contribute to making the U.S.' innovation ecosystem one of the best in the world," the WEF said.
We would note this is no fluke. In May, we reported that the IMD Competitiveness Center in Switzerland, which ranks countries by 256 different variables for its competitiveness ranking, also put the U.S. in the world's top spot for competitiveness, ahead of Hong Kong, Singapore, The Netherlands and Switzerland. It earned the spot due to its "strength in economic performance and infrastructure."
No one should be surprised at this. What's stunning is how silent the media get when discussing the economy, at least as far as Trump's credit for the current economic boom goes.
Let's review. GDP is now averaging 3% growth since Trump entered office, but it hit 4.2% in the second quarter. The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank's "GDP Now" estimate for the third quarter stands at 3.9%, as of Wednesday.
The Household Wealth Machine
Unemployment of 3.7% is at a half-century low, while inflation remains tame at close to 2%. Meanwhile, U.S. household net worth has soared from $95.2 trillion when Trump entered office to $107 trillion in this year's second quarter, a jump of $11.8 trillion. That's the equivalent of about $94,000 in new wealth added per household in the U.S. in under two years.
So, yes, the U.S. is plainly the world's most competitive economy right now.
Earlier this year, you might also recall, Trump traveled to Davos for the WEF's annual gathering of billionaires, CEOs, entrepreneurs and political pooh-bahs. Some warned that Trump might be met by more than a little hostility at the conference. But they were seriously disappointed.
At the time, we quoted this bit of reporting from the Daily Caller, which caught our eye. It describes what happened after Trump finished his speech.
"In a stunning moment, one by one, European titans of industry from companies like Adidas, Siemens and Bayer went around the table to thank Trump for the passage of tax cuts and the easing of corporate burdens. Almost every CEO had a new U.S.-based investment or strategic business to announce," the Daily Caller wrote.
Foreign CEOs Get It
Those were foreign CEOs, who of course know that an economically strong America is essential to the global economy. That's something the increasingly far-left Democrats and President Obama never seemed to get.
Trump's success wasn't an accident, as those Euro-CEOs' comments show. It came from very specific policies. Only the U.S. media and the Democratic Party don't understand that Trump's moves to slash regulation, reduce tax burdens and make trade rules fairer for all, have been extremely successful in resetting the U.S. growth agenda. And his ability to put two new judges on the Supreme Court who will judge by the law, not by popular politics, has helped restore the rule of law in the U.S. — one of the key elements of economic growth.
We have no crystal ball. But expansions don't die of old age. They die of mistakes. As long as Trump, Congress and the Fed minimize their mistakes, there's no reason we can't keep growing — and remain the world's top dog in competitiveness.
“Unemployment of 3.7% is at a half-century low, while inflation remains tame at close to 2%. Meanwhile, U.S. household net worth has soared from $95.2 trillion when Trump entered office to $107 trillion in this year's second quarter, a jump of $11.8 trillion. That's the equivalent of about $94,000 in new wealth added per household in the U.S. in under two years.
So, yes, the U.S. is plainly the world's most competitive economy right now.
Earlier this year, you might also recall, Trump traveled to Davos for the WEF's annual gathering of billionaires, CEOs, entrepreneurs and political pooh-bahs. Some warned that Trump might be met by more than a little hostility at the conference. But they were seriously disappointed.
At the time, we quoted this bit of reporting from the Daily Caller, which caught our eye. It describes what happened after Trump finished his speech.
"In a stunning moment, one by one, European titans of industry from companies like Adidas, Siemens and Bayer went around the table to thank Trump for the passage of tax cuts and the easing of corporate burdens. Almost every CEO had a new U.S.-based investment or strategic business to announce," the Daily Caller wrote.
Foreign CEOs Get It
Those were foreign CEOs, who of course know that an economically strong America is essential to the global economy. That's something the increasingly far-left Democrats and President Obama never seemed to get.
Trump's success wasn't an accident, as those Euro-CEOs' comments show. It came from very specific policies. Only the U.S. media and the Democratic Party don't understand that Trump's moves to slash regulation, reduce tax burdens and make trade rules fairer for all, have been extremely successful in resetting the U.S. growth agenda. And his ability to put two new judges on the Supreme Court who will judge by the law, not by popular politics, has helped restore the rule of law in the U.S. — one of the key elements of economic growth.
We have no crystal ball. But expansions don't die of old age. They die of mistakes.”
They also die of over extension, you did not add one of Mr. Trumps more illustrious accomplishments
Trump and the National Debt - The Balance
The economy was great before trump took office.
No, it wasn’t. But it is great now. Trump really did Make America Great Again! And now we are going to Keep America Great! Trump and the GOP put America first. 🇺🇸
I can only see about half of the charts they run off the page on my computer I dont know about anyone else though.
The beauty of it all. 2001-2009 never existed. Conservatism has no memory, honor or soul.
Trump takes office. Gorsuch. Kavanaugh. Caravans fleeing Central America seeking hope and safety. Red Tide sweeping the Florida beaches. Russians. Chopped up journalists. Stand tall--don't bend that knee. MAGA
My gawd--its a miracle.
I find it quite disingenuous that you are trying to pass off the chart as proof the economy is not Trump's. Frankly, what the chart should be displaying is the pre-November 2008 election and the pre-November 2016 election numbers for all the categories. Just on Consumer Confidence alone the numbers are quite telling. On November 25, 2008, CNN Money reported that Consumer Confidence was 38 that October and 44.9 that November. On November 29, 2016, CNBC reported that Consumer Confidence was 98.6 that October and 107.1 that November.
Now, you go to November 28, 2017, CNBC reports that the Consumer Confidence level hit its highest mark since 2000 and had increased for the 5th straight month when it hit 129.5.
Your post is absolutely awesome and 100% right on in every way. Thanks for setting the record straight yet again.
The objective is to make it so that the years 2009-2016 never existed as far as federal law, taxes, and regulations are concerned. Too bad we can’t undo the doubling of our national debt those years, the one thing we will remember Obama for.
Seems to me Mr. Trump has added approx. 2 trillion to the debt in the short term, but I suppose that is okay after all the hand wringing.
What hypocrisy.
Actually, Trump didn't add that much to the deficit, it was Ryan and McConnell that are to blame for that. They have kept making empty promises while trying to please the Never-Trumpers like McCain, when they should have been trying to please the base which is behind Trump.
I stand by my post. Your deflection and patent 'Obama Blame' is duly noted.
Speaking of regulations...……………….which regulations?
I await.
Who signed off on it?
All 3 are responsible for the skyrocketing deficit.
So that infers that you are schooled on the differences between the budget that Trump submitted and what was passed by Congress. Please tell us all about the changes Congress made to 'bust' the budget...
The Omnibus was not a budget, that is the biggest problem that everyone seems to ignore. It was an APPROPRIATIONS bill. True Appropriations bills are individual bills where each department is actually given the money that ONLY Congress sets for them. The Omnibus was an appropriations bill that combined almost all of the departments actual allotments in a single bill. A budget bill is a proposal for how much each department should get at the time the appropriations process is undertaken, in other words, it is just a guideline, which is why the President is supposed to propose one. The actual appropriations are what Congress actually decides each department gets for that year and perhaps longer depending on the rules each House has set.
What Trump sent to Congress was titled " BUDGET OF THE U. S. GOVERNMENT A New Foundation For American Greatness Fiscal Year 2018", what the Congress CALLED it when they passed it is irrelevant.
You're deflecting.
Answer my question.
But so many Democratic Nostradamus' predicted the economy would nose dive!
Don't you remember one of the Democrats' favorite economists, Paul Krugman and hos dire predictions?
And how they are NOT coming true?
Say, isn't the Dow still above 25k?
Remember the right complaining about the debt and the deficit for 8 year when Obama was president? Remember how they suddenly STOPPED complaining about it the day Trumpy took office?
Anyone else notice a trend here?
(And with that, I am taking some time off from here, my wife was in a serious car accident today and she is not feeling too well, (the car did not survive), see ya'll in a few days).
Sorry to hear it, Best wishes to Mrs. Frost and yourself.
Ditto, Frost, absolutely, family first.
Absolutely family first. I hope your wife recovers soon.
We all agree on that.
So the US 'wins' by about 2% and 30% of the rating is based on how business leaders 'feel' about the economy.
Talk about fluffing...
BTW we 'win' by 2% over Singapore which is smaller in population than NYC. Woo hoo!
We can always count on progressives to minimize and belittle America and her success whenever one of their own isn’t President.
Isn't it amazing that some Americans are pissed off about good economic news?
I can always count on YOU to insist that any and every attempt at citing FACTS about YOUR posits are an affront on America.
Which Americans would that be Tex?
The very same people voicing any doubts or displeasure with the actual numbers, or the ones trying to say it is all because of Obama.
Have you read the posts listed here?
Again, I see no one 'voicing any doubts or displeasure with the actual numbers'. I see facts being posted that show that what was posted in the seed isn't ALL of the relevant information about the topic and what the actual numbers MEAN.
Obama is sited 20 times in the seed and threads. NONE of them say it's all because of Obama.
If you mean the comments in the threads in this seed, yes, YES I have. After reading your comment about Obama I wonder if you have...
I really can't help what you seem unable to see.
No need to voice your wonder to me--I don't care what you "wonder" about.
I didn't say I was 'unable to see', I said I don't see those kind of comments and that is because they don't exist.
But YOU do wonder about what I've read. Got ya.
didn't wonder because I don't care. and you can't see what you don't look for.
You obviously DID wonder because you asked me about it...
I DID look, that's how I know how many times Obama is cited. That vast majority of those that mentioned Obama have an X in their moniker and it WASN'T to praise him.
Obama did virtually nothing as president that was worthy of any praise at all. He was next to Buchanan, the worst president in American history.
Delusional.
Obama 8th
Buchanan 43rd
Trump 44th.
How the feel about the economy after about a 2 trillion dollar bribe.
The US economy has been getting better for years now. And of course, that really all depends on your perspective, if you are an hourly worker then you have seen little to no improvement, but for me things have been pretty damn good for going on 7 years.
Had to be done. I never liked it, but I accepted that it was necessary, better that than to have a repeat of 1929.
Yep Don't forget about those who were wise enough to invest in property at this time as well, that has been my biggest boon.
Nah, they don't need to be paid that much, just enough to afford a roof (even a shitty one) and food. Enough to keep them quiet.