LETTER: Donald Trump on the economy
In her Dec. 6 letter, Elaine M. Harman claims the economy under President Donald Trump lags behind those presided over by Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and even Jimmy Carter.
Maybe Ms. Harman wasn’t around during Mr. Carter’s presidency. Maybe she never encountered or witnessed the long lines at gas stations or how America endured rampant inflation and staggering unemployment, something economists claimed had an inverse relationship — i.e., when one goes up, the other goes down — and could not occur. Some economy. No, thank you.
Then there is Mr. Obama. If I am not mistaken, Mr. Trump’s economy has grown at about a 3 percent annual rate during his presidency. Did Ms. Harman forget the words of Mr. Obama when he stated that a 1.9 annual growth rate was the best we could do? Did Mr. Obama create the lowest unemployment rate in decades, even for minorities and African-Americans?
Economists have predicted that the current holiday shopping season will be the strongest ever. That happens when you put more money in people’s pockets due to tax cuts. Consumer spending and confidence are at an all-time high. That is what happens when you remove cumbersome rules and regulations and unleash the private sector.