GDP 2018 = 2.9%. What happened to 4+%?
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 1:03 pm
Apples to apples
Now, why did I use 2.9% in my column? Because I was comparing apples with apples.
The Republicans made a big point about how the economy never grew 3% in any year during Obama’s presidency. It was a wonderful, easy-to-understand symbol of what they depicted as Obama’s economic failures.
The best annual figure under Obama was 2.9% in 2015, and the Trump White House was sure it would beat that this year. It put everything it could into it: lots of jawboning, deregulations galore, a big tax cut and a huge increase in government spending.
Unfortunately, the economy fell just short of Trump’s 3% goal post. According to the latest estimates, Trump’s best year just matches Obama’s best.
That’s why the White House switched to the 3.1% year-over-year figure when it touted Trump’s successes in its press release on GDP. The economic difference between 2.9% and 3.1% is trivial, but the political difference is the difference between the Greatest President Ever and the Kenyan Marxist.
Unfortunately for the pro-Trump spin machine, the best year-over-year growth in Obama’s presidency (3.8% from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015) is higher than the best year-over-year growth under Trump (3.1% from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2018).
When the facts aren’t in your favor, change the subject. Or move the goal posts.
Now, why did I use 2.9% in my column? Because I was comparing apples with apples.
The Republicans made a big point about how the economy never grew 3% in any year during Obama’s presidency. It was a wonderful, easy-to-understand symbol of what they depicted as Obama’s economic failures.
The best annual figure under Obama was 2.9% in 2015, and the Trump White House was sure it would beat that this year. It put everything it could into it: lots of jawboning, deregulations galore, a big tax cut and a huge increase in government spending.
Unfortunately, the economy fell just short of Trump’s 3% goal post. According to the latest estimates, Trump’s best year just matches Obama’s best.
That’s why the White House switched to the 3.1% year-over-year figure when it touted Trump’s successes in its press release on GDP. The economic difference between 2.9% and 3.1% is trivial, but the political difference is the difference between the Greatest President Ever and the Kenyan Marxist.
Unfortunately for the pro-Trump spin machine, the best year-over-year growth in Obama’s presidency (3.8% from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015) is higher than the best year-over-year growth under Trump (3.1% from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2018).
When the facts aren’t in your favor, change the subject. Or move the goal posts.