Expect a slowdown in economic growth in 2019
By Michael Hicks, opinion contributor — 12/16/18 11:00 AM EST
The research center in which I work released our 2019 economic forecast this week. Like all economic forecasts, this one is likely wrong but is hopefully useful. To talk about the forecast, it is best to re-examine 2018.
In many ways, this has been a good year for our economy. Employment growth nationally has been strong, and median wages for the world rose roughly one full percentage point above inflation.
More people returned to work, with labor force increases strong throughout most of the year. It was, in short, a mostly good year, but the end-of-year news is far less salutary.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which I supported, proved a disappointment. Among its goals was the repatriation of between $2-2.5 trillion in assets held abroad. Only about 10 percent of that actually returned as investment.
Another goal was to cause businesses to invest domestically. Business investment actually slowed deeply by year’s end. As it appears today, most of the economic effect of the TCJA was to promote domestic consumption.
more
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/421295-expect-a-slowdown-in-economic-growth-in-2019
