TRUMP'S DISASTROUS ECONOMY

Stiglitz

Trump's economy is an absolute disaster according to Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz  of Columbia University.

According to Stiglitz -

1. US life expectancy, already relatively low, fell in each of the first two years of Trump’s presidency.

In 2017, midlife mortality reached its highest rate since World War II.

Millions have lost their health insurance coverage, and the uninsured rate has risen, in just two years, from 10.9% to 13.7%.

Deaths from alcohol and drug overdoses, and suicide have fast increased.

Trump gutting of regulations means that the air will be less breathable and the water less drinkable.

2. Trump's 2017 tax changes will result in tax increases for most households.



3. There was no significant change in US household’s disposable income between 2017 and 2018 (The most recent year with good data). 

The median wage of a full-time male worker (and those with full-time jobs are the lucky ones) is still more than 3% below what it was 40 years ago. 

4. There are record peacetime deficits (almost $1 trillion in 2019). 

The US had to borrow massively abroad: the most recent data show foreign borrowing at nearly $500 billion a year, with an increase of more than 10% in America’s net indebtedness position in one year alone.



5. Trump’s trade wars have not reduced the US trade deficit, which was one-quarter higher in 2018 than it was in 2016. 

The 2018 goods deficit was the largest on record. 

Even the deficit in trade with China was up almost a quarter from 2016.



6. Despite Trump’s promises to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, the increase in manufacturing employment is still lower than it was under Barack Obama, once the post-2008 recovery set in.

Manufacturing employment is still markedly below its pre-crisis level. 

The employment rate for working-age males and females has increased less than during the Obama recovery, and is still significantly below that of other developed countries. 

The pace of job creation is also markedly slower than it was under Obama.

Many adult Americans are not counted as 'unemployed', even though they are unemployed.

7. Judging by GDP, the Trump economy falls short.

Last quarter’s growth was just 2.1%, far less than the 4%, 5%, or even 6% Trump promised to deliver, and even less than the 2.4% average of Obama’s second term.