Thinking Citizen Blog — The Economic Case for Trump — WSJ

Thinking Citizen Blog — Tuesday is Economics, Finance, and Business Day

Today’s topic — The Economic Case for Trump — Wall Street Journal

I read three newspapers a day — the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Wall Street Journal. Understanding all sides is essential to civic literacy. Trump’s character is one thing. The consequences of his economic policies another. Today, excerpts from a Wall Street Journal editorial laying out the economic case for Trump. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.

BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, INCOME GROWTH SOARED

1. “In case you missed it, and most of the media did, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the median household income in 2019 grew a whopping 6.8% — the largest annual increase on record. While this year’s government-mandated lockdowns will erase these gains in the short term at least, it’s still worth highlighting how-lower income workers and minorities benefited from faster growth and a tighter labor market before the pandemic.”

2. “Real median US household income rose by $4379 to $68,709. In dollar amounts, this is nearly 50% more than during the eight years of Barack Obama’s Presidency. The wealthy last year benefited from a roaring stock market, as they did during the Obama years.”

3. “But lower and middle-income folks were also finally sharing more of the country’s growing wealth. Notably, median household incomes increased more among Hispanics (7.1%), blacks (7.9%), Asians (10.6%), and foreign-born workers (8.5%) versus whites (5.7%) and native-born Americans (6.2%). One reason is more Americans with lower education levels were working.”

NB: “Median earnings increased by an astounding 7.8% for women compared to 2.5% for men.”

AND POVERTY RATES FELL AS LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION ROSE

1. “Between the third quarter of 2009 — the recession officially ended in June — and the third quarter of 2015 labor participation among 25 to 54-year-olds declined to 80.7% from 82.7%. Accelerating wage growth in recent years, particularly in blue-collar industries has drawn more workers off the sidelines, and the prime-age labor participation rate climbed back to 82.9% during the first quarter of 2020.”

2. “The result: Poverty fell 1.3% last year to 10.5%, the lowest level since 1959, and declined more for blacks (2 percentage points), Hispanics (1.8), Asians (2.8), single mothers (2.6), people with a disability (3,2), and no high-school diploma (2.2). The black (18.8%) and Hispanic (15.7%) were the lowest in history.”

3. “As family household incomes increased, the child poverty rate also declined to 14.4% from 16.2% in 2018 and 18% in 2016. The decline in childhood poverty last year was nearly twice as much as during the entire Obama Presidency. The most pro-family policies are those that increase jobs and wages.”

NB: “Income inequality last year also declined by most measures as the bottom quintile’s share of income grew 2.4%. But incomes grew across the distribution with many lower earners rising into the middle class, some of whom joined the ranks of the affluent.”

THE ECONOMIC POLICY CHOICE ON NOVEMBER 3RD

1. “The pandemic will eventually end, and the labor market is recovering faster than expected. The question for Americans on Nov. 3 is what kind of economy they want on the other side. The Trump policy mix lifted wages for all and reduced inequality. The Obama-Biden policy mix that put income redistribution first led to slower growth and more inequality.”

2. “Business investment and hiring increased amid the Trump Administration’s deregulation and the GOP’s 2017 tax reform that unleashed animal spirits. New business applications increased twice as much during the first two years of the Trump Presidency versus the last two years of the Obama years…”

3. “Employers competed for workers by increasing wages and digging deeper into applicant pools by hiring folks with disabilities, less education, and even criminal records. Rising economic growth lifted all classes. The record of his last three years are why voters still give President an edge over Biden on the economy.”

Opinion | The Higher Wages of Growth

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PDF with headlines — Google Drive

YOUR TURN — Please share:

a.) the coolest thing you learned this week related to business, economics, finance.

b.) the coolest thing you learned in your life related to business, economics, finance.

c.) anything at all related to business, economics, finance.

d.) anything at all