Tag: U.S. economy

Federal Reserve expresses concern about U.S. economy and signals inter

Washington Post logoTrump has urged the central bank to take such action for months.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised concerns the economy is slowing and sent its strongest signal to date that it could act soon to cut interest rates, a move that would plunge the central bank into unusual territory.

Business investment is slowing, uncertainty has increased and the U.S. economy is growing at a “moderate” pace, the Fed said Wednesday in its official policy statement, a notable downgrade from last month, when the central bank characterized the economy as “solid.”

The Fed did not cut rates Wednesday and did not specify exactly when it would. But nearly half of Fed leaders now predict rates will fall by the end of the year, a significant change from March, when none of the 17 Fed policymakers anticipated a cut this year. Seven of the 17 are forecasting two rate decreases by the end of 2019, according to projections also released Wednesday.

View the complete June 19 article by Heather Long on The Washington Post website here.

Award-winning economist explains why Trump’s ‘populism’ is a cruel joke that only harms those he’s claiming to help

As president of the United States, Donald J. Trump has preached a right-wing brand of populism that often echoes Patrick Buchanan’s nationalist and protectionist themes and utter contempt for “elites” — and Trump’s rally in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday made it clear that he will be hitting those themes aggressively in his 2020 reelection campaign. But economist Paul Krugman, in a New York Times column published this week, outlines the many ways in which Trump’s “populism” is a cruel joke that only hurts the working class Americans he is claiming to look out for.

Krugman recalls that when Trump was running for president in 2016, he famously declared, “I love the poorly educated.” And Trump, Krugman notes, “sounded as if he might be a European-style populist, blending racism with support for social programs that benefit white people.”

Krugman unfavorably compares Trump to far-right Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, pointing out that Orbán talks like a populist yet has “promoted crony capitalism on a grand scale.” But at least Orbán, Krugman asserts, has offered “a bit of actual populism” and policies that “offer some benefits to the little guy” — whereas Trump hasn’t even done that much. And so many of the things that Trump has done as president, Krugman complains, have been terrible for the working class.

View the complete June 19 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

How Trump’s Tariffs May Kill The Economy

Donald Trump tweeted in May that by imposing a 25 percent tariff on $250 billion of Chinese goods “China would greatly slow down, and we would automatically speed up!”

But that’s not what’s happening, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported today. Economic growth is easing in developed countries with one big exception – China.

In a report released today, the OECD provided four revealing graphics covering the United States, the 32 OECD countries from New Zealand to Austria, the Eurozone which uses a common currency and China.

View the complete June 16 article by David Cay Johnston of D.C. Memo on the National Memo here.

Paul Krugman: Trump’s reckless tariff war is driving America into something far worse than the Great Depression

In a column for the New York Times, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman claimed that an unfettered Donald Trump is setting the stage for  a second Great Depression — only this one will be much worse.

Noting that Trump’s plan to slam Mexico with tariffs “will reduce the living standards of most Americans, destroy many jobs in U.S. manufacturing, and hurt farmers,” Krugman said that is the least of our problems.

“Trump says that ‘TARIFF is a beautiful word indeed,’ but the actual history of U.S. tariffs isn’t pretty — and not just because tariffs, whatever the tweeter in chief says, are in practice taxes on Americans, not foreigners. In fact, it’s now a good bet that Trump’s tariffs will more than wipe out whatever breaks middle-class Americans got from the 2017 tax cut,” Krugman wrote.

View the complete June 4 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

How Trump’s Tariffs May Wreck The Good Economy He Inherited

When it comes to the economy, Donald Trump was born on third base and claims he hit a triple. But now, he seems determined to be thrown out before reaching home.

His latest move is threatening to impose tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico, starting at five percent and rising to 25 percent in October. He made the announcement Thursday, even as he is asking Congress to approve a new trade deal to keep virtually all tariffs on goods from Mexico at … zero.

It’s a contradiction on the order of pressing one foot on the accelerator while using the other to stomp on the brakes. “Why even have a trade agreement if it means nothing?” former Mexican diplomat Jorge Guajardo asked a reporter for The Washington Post.

View the complete June 2 article by Steve Chapman on the National Memo website here.

Trump’s tariffs are hitting the country’s most vulnerable: Dollar store shoppers

For more than 30 years, Dollar Tree has made a singular promise to its customers: “Everything’s $1.”

Not anymore.

The Chesapeake, Va.-based retailer, which relies heavily on cheaply made goods from China, said this week that it had begun testing higher prices at some of its stores. Soon, more than 100 Dollar Tree stores around the country will sell items that cost up to $5.

View the complete May 31 article by Abha Bhattarai on The Washington Post website here.

White House brushes off Grassley, GOP concern over Mexico tariffs

‘Trade policy and border security are separate issues,’ Senate Finance chair

After abruptly announcing tariffs on imports coming from Mexico over a migrant dispute, the White House is brushing aside the concerns of powerful Republican lawmakers – including Senate Finance Chairman Charles E. Grassley.

President Donald Trump green-lighted the import fees in an attempt to push the Mexican government to clamp down on the flow of Central and South American migrants moving through its territory toward the U.S.-Mexico border.

But Grassley, whose committee handles trade issues, issued a scathing statement Thursday night, calling the move a “misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent.” An Iowa Republican, Grassley has voiced concerns in the past about the trade battles hurting on farmers in his state who sell to foreign markets.

View the complete May 31 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

Companies warn Trump trade war is about to hit consumers

U.S. companies are speaking out against President Trump‘s escalating trade war with China, with major players such as Walmart saying tariffs are forcing them to raise prices on consumer goods for Americans.

The price hikes could complicate things for Trump as the 2020 campaign picks up. The president has repeatedly asserted that China, and not U.S. consumers, would pay the price of the trade war.

“There are some places where, as we get tariffs, we will take prices up,” Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said Thursday in an earnings call.

View the complete May 17 article by Niv Elis on The Hill website here.

Trump’s economy is no silver bullet, history shows

President Trump got more good economic news Friday, with the announcement that the gross domestic product had grown by an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019. It was an acceleration from the disappointing 2.2 percent figure from the last quarter. It also gave Trump 3 percent growth for a full year, a key economic state that he has promised.

And it’s leading some to declare the Trump economy a game-changer. Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt went so far as to declare this weekend that “The 2020 election isn’t going to be close“:

This will come as news to #Resistance liberals, who are certain Trump will lose, because they dislike him so much. They still haven’t figured out that 40 percent of the country love him and at least another 10 percent are very much committed to considering the alternative in comparison to Trump, not reflexively voting against him. That decile is doing very well in this economy. Unemployment remains incredibly low. The markets are soaring. That’s not a given for the fall of 2020, but better to be soaring than falling 18 months out.

View the complete April 30 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Why Trump Gets A ‘C’ On The Economy

Forget His Boasts; Growth Is Just Average and Well Behind Reagan, Clinton, Even Carter

Donald Trump keeps boasting about what a great economy he should get credited for creating. But his administration’s own reports don’t support his claims, which also don’t come close to what he promised voters.

His results so far have been, well, just average.

As if it were a stellar achievement, Trump boasted last week, the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2% in the first three months of this year. Big deal. That’s precisely the average since 1947.

View the complete April 29 article by David Cay Johnston on the DCReport.org website here.