Monday, February 20, 2017

The Mess Trump Inherited Is Real

Economy: When President Trump said he inherited a mess, fact checkers scurried to prove him wrong. But by several measures, things were as bad, or worse, as when the Great Recession ended in June 2009.
"I inherited a mess — it's a mess — at home and abroad. A mess," Trump said at his lengthy news conference on Thursday.
This prompted several stories questioning Trump's claim. "When it comes to the U.S. economy, though, that 'mess' isn't borne out by most measures," said one. "Trump's nightmare visions (contrast) with outside experts," said another.
So is this another one of Trump's wild exaggerations? To be sure, there's a political reason for Trump to claim that the economy was bad when he came into office. That way he can claim credit for any noticeable improvement.
But that political calculus runs in both directions. After all, if the economy noticeably improves on Trump's watch, Democrats will say it was heading that direction before Trump took office.
It's not all bad. I did improve my golf game ...
There are signs that the economy is doing better since Trump took office. Consumer confidence has spiked, and job growth was strong in January. And retail sales beat expectations, a rare occurrence for any economic measure during the past eight years.
More to the point, however, is that those who claim the economy was doing just fine when Trump arrived conveniently ignore all the evidence pointing in the other direction.
Read the rest of this IBD editorial HERE.

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