Now They Tell Us: Trump's Economic Plan Will Boost Growth Investor's Business Daily, November 16, 2016
Economy: If we heard anything about Donald Trump's proposals from mainstream economists before the election, it was that he'd send the economy into a tailspin. Now, after Trump's Nov. 8 victory, they are suddenly revising their forecasts upward. Go figure.
When it was clear that Trump was going to win the election early Wednesday morning last week and stock futures had dropped, one-time economist Paul Krugman made this prediction: "If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never." We are, he went on, "probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight."
Two days later, after stocks hit record highs, Krugman "quickly" (his words) retracted that prediction.
Krugman was far from the only one warning that a Trump victory would spell economic doom.
During the campaign, Moody's Analytics, in a report that was widely picked up by the press, said that "the economy will be significantly weaker if Mr. Trump's economic proposals are adopted."
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, along with their media echo chamber, were busy lecturing the country that tax cuts and deregulation "have never worked" to boost growth.
Before the election, the conventional wisdom was that 2% GDP growth was the best the country could expect for the foreseeable future. We were told that the U.S. was now in a "slow growth world," that we were in the midst of a "secular stagnation," that the glory days of 3%-plus growth were long gone.
In other words, the subpar growth during the past seven years had nothing to do with President Obama's economic policies. It was just a fact of life, like the weather.
Now we're hearing that faster growth isn't just possible, but is likely because of Trump's policies — policies that just happen to reverse much of what Obama imposed on the economy.
"Trump agenda could promote economic growth," says Barron's.
Forbes reports that Wall Street has had a change of heart about higher Fed interest rates, because of "an outlook for higher growth" brought about by Trump's victory.
A Wall Street Journal survey of economists found that Trump's "proposals to reduce taxes and invest in infrastructure will amount to a substantial fiscal stimulus."
Bloomberg reports that Barclays has upped its forecast for growth in 2017 largely because of Trump's "promised tax cuts."
Read more:
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/now-they-tell-us-trumps-economic-plan-will-boost-growth/
