February 26, 2018
Our economy appears to be booming, based on current measures.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve bank increased its forecast to north of 3 percent, and if that’s true, we’ll see growth above 3 percent for the third consecutive quarter.
Consumer confidence is strong, and it seems the phenomenon is worldwide, not just localized to the U.S. In fact, Goldman Sachs and Barclays both call for 4% global growth in 2018.
Should President Trump get credit for this? Well, President Obama did not achieve such growth rates in two full terms.
I think the business climate has changed on President Trump’s watch.
Look at the recent bonus activity. Even his enemies in the media have admitted his deregulation efforts have been a factor in the growth.
Perhaps President Trump was simply the bearer of ample fruit once he took over, though.
Here’s some perspective.
In President Obama’s final year, the Federal Register, which is the record for all new and proposed rules and regulations, stood at 95,894 pages. It was the highest level in history, beating the prior year’s 80,260 pages by an additional 19 percent.
President Trump, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has had quite an effect on deregulation already. By the end of September 2017, the Federal Register page count was cut by 32 percent. Consider that it took President Reagan years to achieve such deregulation numbers.
President Trump has repealed, delayed or halted progress on hundreds of regulations from the prior administration. And it has opened a new path to growth.
No matter how you slice it, I think Trump’s presidency had something to do with the economic success.
And from the looks of it, we’re just getting started.