3 ms·

Trump running massive deficits and forcing rate cuts when times are good is Trump’s shaky ground.

by dd36 7y ago

CWuestefeld 7y ago
Trump's shaky ground? Or everybody since at least the turn of the century? (Also, note that Trump doesn't get to run deficits. That's Congress's territory.)
- sg47 7y ago
  Wait what? The administration decides the spending that Congress can approve or reject. Trump was absolutely pushing for the tax cuts when Repubicans had control of the House. Why is no Republican harping about the deficit now? I can understand if the deficit was due to infrastructure spending but giving Zuckerberg a tax cut is not going to help the economy.
  - jsight 7y ago
    I can think of a couple of reasons. 1. Many people do not care about the deficit to a great degree on either side of the political aisle. This despite a lot of rhetoric by one party or another. 2. The party in power seems to always find a way to blame their predecessor for their ills. I've personally seen Trump supporters blame immigration for the current rising deficits.
  - CWuestefeld 7y ago
    no, budgeting is Congress's job. Traditionally the President sends a proposal, but it's certainly not required. In fact, I believe that Trump has been somewhat derelict in this.
danans 7y ago
People might forget, but part of his platform was supercharging the economy (really, the stock market) past the moderate, but steady and unexciting post-financial-crisis growth of the Obama era. To continue the automotive analogy, supercharging an engine with major fragilities usually sets it up for a reckoning, just waiting for a trigger. Covid-19 is just a particularly powerful trigger since it is globally correlated, and also has its primary effects at the local level. It would have shocked any economy, Obama's or Trump's, but there is much farther to fall in the latter's, because of the huge market rallies and the expectations that drove and emerged from it.
- dd36 7y ago
  He said a lot of things... often contradictory. And his growth rate hasn't been particularly different than Obama's despite the super stimulus of deficit spending during a non-recession. Maybe it was the trade war or maybe there's just a limit to giving corporations huge tax cuts when they're already awash in abundant profits and capital.
  - danans 7y ago
    > He said a lot of things... often contradictory. Agreed, but massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy are something he campaigned on and delivered on, like it or not (I surely didn't like it). > And his growth rate hasn't been particularly different than Obama's despite the super stimulus of deficit spending during a non-recession. On main street and the overall economy, sure, the growth rate hasn't been much better, and wealth and income inequality haven't reduced [1], although they didn't reduce under Obama either. On Wall St however, growth has been blockbuster since his election (S&P up more than 30%) with investors reaping the rewards of stock buybacks and lower overall taxes. A good deal of this rise was right after his election, on the expectation of the tax cuts that eventually passed. The stock market is what crashed. Main street might follow, we'll see. > Maybe it was the trade war or maybe there's just a limit to giving corporations huge tax cuts when they're already awash in abundant profits and capital. I think we're in agreement here. The massive tax cuts to corps and wealthy people are what juiced the market and set expectations sky high. The trade war probably didn't help either. 1. https://www.cbpp.org/income-concentration-at-the-top-has-risen-sharply-since-the-1970s-4 https://www.cbpp.org/income-concentration-at-the-top-has-ris... https://www.cbpp.org/share-of-wealth-held-by-wealthiest-1-percent-has-risen-since-1989-bottom-50-percent-share-tiny https://www.cbpp.org/share-of-wealth-held-by-wealthiest-1-pe...

Trump running massive deficits and forcing rate cuts when times are good is Trump’s shaky ground.

by dd36 7y ago

Trump running massive deficits and forcing rate cuts when times are good is Trump’s shaky ground.

Trump's shaky ground? Or everybody since at least the turn of the century? (Also, note that Trump doesn't get to run deficits. That's Congress's territory.)

sg47 7y ago
Wait what? The administration decides the spending that Congress can approve or reject. Trump was absolutely pushing for the tax cuts when Repubicans had control of the House. Why is no Republican harping about the deficit now? I can understand if the deficit was due to infrastructure spending but giving Zuckerberg a tax cut is not going to help the economy.
- jsight 7y ago
  I can think of a couple of reasons. 1. Many people do not care about the deficit to a great degree on either side of the political aisle. This despite a lot of rhetoric by one party or another. 2. The party in power seems to always find a way to blame their predecessor for their ills. I've personally seen Trump supporters blame immigration for the current rising deficits.
- CWuestefeld 7y ago
  no, budgeting is Congress's job. Traditionally the President sends a proposal, but it's certainly not required. In fact, I believe that Trump has been somewhat derelict in this.

danans 7y ago

People might forget, but part of his platform was supercharging the economy (really, the stock market) past the moderate, but steady and unexciting post-financial-crisis growth of the Obama era. To continue the automotive analogy, supercharging an engine with major fragilities usually sets it up for a reckoning, just waiting for a trigger. Covid-19 is just a particularly powerful trigger since it is globally correlated, and also has its primary effects at the local level. It would have shocked any economy, Obama's or Trump's, but there is much farther to fall in the latter's, because of the huge market rallies and the expectations that drove and emerged from it.

dd36 7y ago
He said a lot of things... often contradictory. And his growth rate hasn't been particularly different than Obama's despite the super stimulus of deficit spending during a non-recession. Maybe it was the trade war or maybe there's just a limit to giving corporations huge tax cuts when they're already awash in abundant profits and capital.
- danans 7y ago
  > He said a lot of things... often contradictory. Agreed, but massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy are something he campaigned on and delivered on, like it or not (I surely didn't like it). > And his growth rate hasn't been particularly different than Obama's despite the super stimulus of deficit spending during a non-recession. On main street and the overall economy, sure, the growth rate hasn't been much better, and wealth and income inequality haven't reduced [1], although they didn't reduce under Obama either. On Wall St however, growth has been blockbuster since his election (S&P up more than 30%) with investors reaping the rewards of stock buybacks and lower overall taxes. A good deal of this rise was right after his election, on the expectation of the tax cuts that eventually passed. The stock market is what crashed. Main street might follow, we'll see. > Maybe it was the trade war or maybe there's just a limit to giving corporations huge tax cuts when they're already awash in abundant profits and capital. I think we're in agreement here. The massive tax cuts to corps and wealthy people are what juiced the market and set expectations sky high. The trade war probably didn't help either. 1. https://www.cbpp.org/income-concentration-at-the-top-has-risen-sharply-since-the-1970s-4 https://www.cbpp.org/income-concentration-at-the-top-has-ris... https://www.cbpp.org/share-of-wealth-held-by-wealthiest-1-percent-has-risen-since-1989-bottom-50-percent-share-tiny https://www.cbpp.org/share-of-wealth-held-by-wealthiest-1-pe...