The Economy is Crashing -- Trump and the Repubs in Congress Own it

For eight years, the Obama administration, the Federal Reserve Bank, and Congress worked to bring the economy back from the deep Bush recession. Little by little, the economy recovered, and when Trump took over in early 2017, the economy had growth momentum. All that Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress had to do was to not screw it up and allow the economy to continue on its upward trajectory. Were they smart enough to do that? They were not.

The Republicans passed two disastrous bills that added fuel to an already strong economy, a tax cut manly for the rich and a budget that calls for far more spending than our revenue-starved government can afford. The tax bill was conceived mainly by the lobbyists for the rich who had purchased Paul Ryan's and his crowd's servility with enormous campaign contributions. The Republicans obeyed the people who had paid them off and duly passed it. Trump does not have the literacy to even read the bill, and he certainly didn't author it, but he was quick to attach his name to it.

At first investors were enthralled with the huge deficit spending. The tax incentives to corporate America would immediately cause a large jump in profits. Then someone thought back a few years. Didn't the Bush Administration run a large government deficit when the economy was already firing on all cylinders? What was the consequence of further stimulating an already hot economy? The economy overheated and crashed. It took us eight long years to crawl our way back from that disaster. It was time for investors to dump their stocks while there was still time to do so. So, from January 26 to April 2 of 2018 the Standard & Poor's stock index has dropped 10.6 percent and is still declining as I write this. Investors have lost confidence in the Trump Administration.

Trump then made the situation worse by his loud threats to retaliate against our trading partners for the trade imbalance our country has with them. He is right in saying that trade needs to be fairer. The way to do that is to work skillfully behind closed doors. Trump has never possessed or even valued skill at anything except being a bully, and he put his bullying traits to work in an attempt to intimidate other countries, mainly China. He publicly and loudly proclaimed that he was slapping additional tariffs on Chinese imports.

After the public dressing down, the Chinese government reacted as it always does when it is afraid of losing face. It slapped duties on imports from the United States, largely on agricultural products such as pork and soybeans. The farmers in Middle-American Trump country were already struggling to survive. Now that Trump's loud mouth is about to cut into a large segment of the agricultural export market, bankruptcies are almost assured. Add to the mix Trump's threats to scrap NAFTA and the farmers are really in a pickle. Many of them depend on exports to Mexico to make ends meet. Trump has always turned on those who support him, and now it is rural America's turn to suffer betrayal.

Fasten your seat belts, folks. We're in for a rough downhill ride. Sock some money into the mattress while the economy is still near full employment, because the booming Obama economy has run its course, and the Trump economy with a maniac in charge is just starting its downward plunge.

Is there anything we can do to fix things. Yes, there is. Midterm elections are approaching. One-third of the Senate and 100 percent of the House will be up for reelection. Vote out the people who are bankrupting our country and vote in some fresh blood that has not yet been bought off by the robber barons.

 

They can get people to believe anything these days.

 

I agree completely with your assessment. Unfortunately, with this crowd, it's going to take serious hurt for them to realize just how badly they messed up by putting this clown in charge.

 

The stock market, which took a hit Monday, is not reacting to the "unbelievable" strength of Trump's economic agenda as promised by the senior White House economic official and Democrat, Peter Navarro.

Equities tanked Monday as fears of a possible trade war and regulation of the tech industry weighed on investors.

In an interview with "Closing Bell," Navarro said Trump's "singular focus is on economic growth, rising wages and a strong manufacturing and defense industrial base."

"If we hit all points … the market will go up."

Do we laugh or cry? Trump declared his trade wars pursuant to Navarro's liberal and medieval ideas on March 8. Wall Street just suffered the worst March in 17 years. Trump's tariffs caused the worst quarter in two years.

“The good news is that March kicks off two of the strongest months historically for equities, before we hit a period of seasonal weakness from May through October,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial, said on March 1st.

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say the economy is crashing. But storm clouds are forming in the way of a potential trade war, higher interest rates, higher bond yields (forcing us to pay more interest on the debt that Don grew unnecessarily), and peak employment.

 

SJWs commenting on economics. lol.

 

Oh it started way before this clown and the reality is that all your clowns serve at the pleasure of the same Wall Street/donor/"job creator" class. Capitalism will not last forever, it can't, by design.

 

Do you mean the stock market that is still 6000 points higher than it ever was under Obama?

 

So what are your economic predictions for the rest of the year? The stock market? Inflation? GDP? Unemployment?

 

And no one's done jack all along ....

 

Gas prices are spiking. Trump tariffs are causing reciprical tariffs from China. Prices will rise until near double digit inflation by the end or the year...yup....time for the GOP to screw the economy up again....

 

Wait....Deficits don't matter during a Republican Regime.....DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT.

Donnie made all his billionaire friend richer at Mara Logo.....that was the reason behind the tax cut....

The GOP is taking care of their donors....the 1%.

 

Psst. Automation. Internet. Technology.

Or did you think people are just working harder?

 

Panic! Sell, Sell, Sell! lol

As far as I am concerned, the economy is strong but the market was hugely overbought and this pull back is a perfect buying opportunity (not yet though, Dow Jones will go down to 20,000 before it starts recovering) .

 

Yeah , suddenly they're all experts. The OP states that if the economy tanks it's Trump's fault but had nothing to say when the DOW rose 5000 points in a year after Trump became president. The economy shudders a lot both while going up and going down but to suggest it's crashing is crazy. Even while having a few breath taking bumps recently I've made lots more money this year than any year since Reagan was in office. It's been a long time since we've had this kind of opportunity, tech and manufacturing are up and I expect to see a lot of new start ups in both.

 

Im all for the fresh blood. Nobody with an (R) or a (D) after their name is fresh.

 

If I told you that and your traded on it, we might both get arrested for insider trading.

 

That it could be starting now isn't a big surprise. We've been screaming for years about fiat currency and national debts since Reagan put it over a billion dollars. Then during Obama's presidency the fed came up with various QE band-aid attempts to head it off at the pass.

Now that some democrats might be concerned about the economy crashing, you guys can jump on board and try not to remember when they were talking about how spending borrowed money is a great way to keep the ol' economy on track.

 

I did address the rise in the market after Trump took over. You didn't read the opening post very carefully.

 

They have very little memory retention. Reagan screwed the middle class and he's their hero, Bush ****ed the economy but he does not exist anymore in their minds. Trump will leave behind devastation and they will rewrite history to fit their narrative.

 

He just hates America.

 

I don't think Trump can crash the economy.... yet. But he is certainly giving it his best.

Obama left a very solid economy, with many safety checks. I am hopeful that it will withstand until we get the Brat in Chief out

 

Mine are that they will withstand Trump's stupidities this year. But not another. Obama left a solid base... but nobody could foresee this level of incompetence. I am hopeful. It also depends on how well Powell continues Yellen's excellent work.

 

The trend during the Obama years was relentlessly up.

Which way is the trend going now?

 

It will also depend on external factors on the world stage. Trump has been lucky there have been no major catastrophes as yet to really test him.