The Myth of the ‘Trump Economy’ Is Going down in Flames | The Smirking Chimp

The U.S. economy grew by only 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019, according to new data by U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter reflected downturns in inventory investment, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment,” the bureau found. In other words, business investment is lagging — which is exactly what the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts were supposed to stimulate. But there was never much evidence to suggest that the tax cut would actually supercharge growth — it was a vain hope of Republicans who see lower taxes as the solution to everything.

At the same time, U.S. manufacturing is in a “technical recession.”

“Seems pretty notable that the president can no longer claim even one year of 3+% growth, with last year’s GDP numbers revised down to 2.5%,” she said. “After all the tax cuts and deregulation, growth is still plugging along about where it was under Obama.”

But we can conclusively say that if the economy isn’t soaring, then the president hasn’t caused the economy to soar. The president and his defenders have sold him as some sort of King Midas with the power to will economic prosperity into existence. And it’s just not true.

via The Myth of the ‘Trump Economy’ Is Going down in Flames | The Smirking Chimp