One of Donald Trump’s late campaign claims was that he would usher in a new “Golden Age” for the United States. This week, he announced that a golden age under President Trump has already begun.
This is no surprise as Trump is rapidly surpassing current President Joe Biden in setting expectations, and even agendas, for the United States at home and abroad. It feels as if the clock for the second Trump administration has already started.
So are the usual battles over who gets credit or responsibility for the economy the next president inherits. This happens to some extent with every new president, regardless of political party, and not just on economic issues.
George H.W. Bush, vice president of the Ronald Reagan administration, inherited the Reagan economy, but Bush’s aides quickly realized that he was also inheriting an inevitable recession and the savings and loan crisis from Zipper. Ta. In the final stages of this year’s election, Barack Obama complained that Trump inherited 2017’s economic success.
There’s a reason Trump is now so quick to take credit for the economy. Because the economy is doing surprisingly well.
That’s not to downplay the suffering of many Americans or to ignore economic problems such as soaring debt, inflation, and disruption to some regions and industries. Even in the midst of a macroeconomic boom, people live in microeconomic conditions.
Nevertheless, the US economy remains the envy of the world. Don’t take my word for it. The cover of the October special issue of The Economist described the American economy as truly “the envy of the world” and pointed out that the United States “has left other rich countries behind.” ” The Financial Times reached a similar conclusion this month.
This is in stark contrast to the 1990s, when many expected Europe’s economy to be a drag on our economy. In 2008, the European Union’s economy was 10% larger than that of the United States. By 2022, it had shrunk by 23%. The EU grew by 21% during this period, while the US economy grew by 72%.
Currently, the U.S. economy produces about a quarter of the world’s output. US stocks account for 65% of the world’s stocks, and Japan, China and the UK together account for just over 10%. If Britain were an American state, its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita would barely exceed that of the poorest state, Mississippi.
There are many reasons for this. Americans simply work harder than citizens of other wealthy countries. Since 2008, our productivity has outpaced the euro area by more than 3 to 1. The business culture in our country is also different. We are the most entrepreneurial country in the world, and we don’t view business failure as something to be ashamed of, but rather as an experience that will help us in our next endeavor. . The United States is also better than most countries at assimilating immigrants, and the immigrants it tends to attract are generally very hard-working.
I was able to continue. The point is that over the past 30 years, we’ve had different presidents with very different policies and even different rhetoric. However, economic trends in the United States have been largely positive throughout these presidential terms, with the usual dips and spikes.
As the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Riedl put it in National Affairs, “The idea that there is a simple partisan pattern in economic health is at odds with our understanding of modern American life.” It is an extension of exaggerated politicization.”
Recent economic dissatisfaction, fueled by inflation, has reinforced the idea that the U.S. is doing particularly badly under the Biden administration. Again, we live in a micro-economy, so it’s understandable that many people held that view. But we still do better than most others.
Mr. Trump’s focus on the economic downturn was typical for a presidential challenger, and fair enough. But he was wrong to suggest that our competitors were eating our lunch.
None of this is to suggest that the president and his economic policies are unimportant. It’s just that they’re not as important as the president and his partisans claim.
@JonahDispatch
