Since the economy is doing so great why have the deficit gone up shouldn’t it go down? When the economy slows down eventually what happens to the deficit then?
I had a debate with some die hard Trump supporting friends a few months ago and they admitted that the economy isn't doing well for them. One of them is a firefighter and the other is contractor. Both live in ex-urban Minnesota. For me as an urban based architect I will admit that the economy is actually doing very well for me. My work is in high demand and my stock portfolio is doing very well. The people who aren't winning from this economy are Trump's base and the ones who are benefiting the most are the very people who oppose Trump. For poorer or working class people like my friends who aren't heavily invested in the market stock gains make little. At the same time for me working for developers the flow of easy money makes my services in high demand. For a small contractor though the massive increase in cost for labor and materials is driving their margins down. At the same time for Trump supporting friends things like health care costs are getting more burdensome. I've actually benefited from the tax cut as I've moved into a higher income bracket. Those who aren't in higher income brackets aren't. My Trump supporting friends blame all of this on the Democratic governor of Minnesota and on illegal immigrants. I've pointed out to them that I live in Minnesota too and living in the Twin Cities there are more illegal immigrants here than there are where they live. The "Trump" economy isn't benefiting those who most support him but those who oppose him because his background isn't his base. He wasn't a blue collar worker, farmer or construction worker. He was a wealthy East Coast elite developer so it should be no surprise then that his policies favor those who are of that background. Further that Trump supporters fail to recognize this but also buy into the scapegoating of other groups shows the real disconnect in this economy and electorate.
Divide and conquer. My dad, a self professed redneck, claims that he has benefited from Trump economically but the policies he benefits most from are all democrat pushed policies (like health care and stayed, city funded rent). He points to a raise in salary of 2-3K that he only got by changing an employer - he now works for a small contractor of Chinese ethnicity ironically. But Trump is "building the wall and getting blacks off welfare" warms his soul enough not to care that only people like Trump are benefiting from this economy while putting this country on a brink of social unrest and slowly turning it into China
House of Cards. Wait til those middle class tax cuts expired (They don't expire for the Rich and Corporations.....). 2022-2023. BTW, Growth is no where the 4% Trump promised.
cost of labor increase but the money magically disappears before blue collar and construction workers get it. seems impossible sir. high cost of labor hurting small business owners? OK, seems plausible.
Because costs of things like health care, insurance and other fees are increasing. Subcontractors are also charging more while wages for workers haven't quite kept up. Also for some fields such as drywallers immigration policies have reduced the amount of labor. I had a project that was delayed and became more expensive because the GC said he was losing drywallers as that field was dominated by Hispanics.
so the money is now disappearing between subcontractors and workers but even with limited labor supply wages are dropping. I don't think any of this is sound economically. Unemployment is down, wages are up and despite that your construction projects are still rolling in. It's obvious in a market upturn if you are not in the market you will not see the gains, but to claim construction workers are hurting because labor costs are up is just an obvious BS talking point. Trump did away with the individual mandate and doubled the standard deduction so those gains are real. I'd be interested to know where all of the Hispanic drywallers went but I think your main point was you and other professionals in the market are doing well and paycheck to paycheck guys are not doing as proportionally well. Welcome to the real world I guess.
Yes people are working and real wages have risen but not nearly compared to corporate profits. As far as healthcare costs increasing that is specifically one of the things my Trump supporting friends cited as a problem. And just because the individual mandate is repealed doesn't mean that health care costs go down or that people don't need health care. And obviously if you're not in the market you don't get the benefits. Most poor and working class people aren't in the market. Much of what could go to investing and other savings is being eaten up by debt. The GC said during a construction meeting specifically that immigration policies were scaring many drywallers off.
Yes. That was my point. We've seen a small rise in real wages but not by much and certainly not compared to corporate profits. This is one reason why contractors are charging more but workers aren't seeing massive gains. On the other hand though because corporate profits are up that is benefiting people like myself.
Yup our economic growth is fueled by consumer debt and not any discernible increase in disposable income. Hence why we have such boom and bust cycles. Rack up the credit during the booms and then start defaulting during the busts.
One more point. Yes in the long run none of this is sound economically. I'm not a believer in things like wealth redistribution but the wealth gap is a real problem and one that has long term implications. Since our economy is primarily based on consumer spending so far it has been good but a lot of that is driven by consumer debt. Also again things like health care and education are also driving up personal debt and a drag on spending that could be used otherwise.
You accused Trump of being some economic designer that specifically move the economy to help people like him more in a conspiratorial back room to screw over his base. That's insane. If you want to talk about real wages let's talk about how the price of a new car has increased 29% since 2009. The price of an average F-150 is up 48% in the same time. Thanks to twin turbos, aluminum bodies, direct injection, 10 speed autos. All to get your blue collar worker another 3 mpg? Gas is 2 bucks a gallon, I'm sure he's loving that. Consumer debt is 10% automotive loan debt. The middle class can no longer afford new cars but thanks to banks extending them out to 8 year loans they are still buying them. How regressive is that? That's a direct result from policy, not from the simple fact the market went up and rich people were overly represented in it. Does this make Dems smart unlike Trump because the subsidized luxury Teslas for the wealthy and screwed the middle class on **** boxes and work trucks?
I don't really know much about green policies and what not, but I do know that we had three major CO2 releasing fires last summer in Rain Forests, Siberia and the later in Australia. Besides the considerable speed up effect global warming those fires had, they also effected global economy in terms of raw resources, work outages, short term and long term health costs. The Global Warning spiraling out of control is probably not something you are too concerned about by the sound of your comments. But can you explain to me why we in the US are so bent on driving unnecessary big cars compared to the rest of the world? Is it not at the point of where we do it purely out of ego and self image concerns and not because we need it? Texas is pretty hot - is it not? The global warming is also causing a lot of the immigration from South America. Don't you think smart people in the government ought to think about problems like these and set policy accordingly to help alleviate human costs in other ways than the price of your truck? Maybe you prefer to beef up walls and military instead and solve problems the old fashioned way, through violence. I don't think either way is truly libertarian which is what you are professing, right?
What? Your article says... Fuel efficiency is part of it but so is safety features and new tech packages. Have you been in a new F150 and seen the tech packages it comes with now? Not sure why anyone is entitled to a new F150, the working class should probably buy a used truck with less bells and whistles...
the nice ones have 8 inch screens. I'm sure the 8 inch LCD screen is the majority of the costs. Not the twin turbos and aluminum body lol.
I'm not saying that Trump is deliberately engineering the economy to screw over his base but his policies regarding tax cuts that favor investors do little to benefit his base. At the same time his trade war the affects were primarily felt by his base. Others have addressed other parts of your argument. That said for work trucks there is a Section 179 tax writeoff so so there is a subsidy for them already.
