Jay Blackett, in his Jan. 2 Public Forum letter, asks us to “give credit where credit is due” in trumpeting the economic policies of the Trump administration.
I would offer one word of caution: Just because Trump said it doesn't make it true. (Witness the 15,000-plus distortions or outright lies he has told since taking office).
The reality is that the growth in household income (per Bloomberg News) during the last two years of the Obama administration averaged 4%, while it has averaged 1.5% during the Trump administration. During the 3rd quarter of 2019, GDP grew by 1.9% — a rate which led Trump to say during the Obama administration, when the rate was the same, "the economy is in deep trouble."
Median weekly paychecks have grown at a rate of 1%, when adjusted for inflation, compared to 1.5% during Obama's second term. Paychecks of women during that period have actually declined 1.1%.
When adjusted for inflation, the Census Bureau tells us that median household income is lower today than in 2007. They also tell us that the modest gains during the Trump administration have been eaten up by the cost of his trade tariffs.
And as for his claim that the stock market is at record highs, that could be said at the end of every presidential term for the past 40 years. Additionally, those gains profit those in the higher income levels, and not middle class Americans, who don't own much stock.
As for Blackett's central claim, that you are $5,000 richer under Trump, I checked all my pockets when doing the laundry and found 42 cents.
Lots of numbers, but the essence is that Trump's claim is — like so many of his claims — self-aggrandizing and blatantly false. His signature policy initiative — the tax cut — provided a huge financial boost to the top 1%, but had almost no impact on middle America.
Dennis R. Edmonds, Sandy
