Why do Republicans think Trump is so good for the economy?

[Evangelicalhumanist]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

"But," says Trump, and so many of his supporters, "look at the stock market -- it's soaring, it's a wonder!"

Okay, stocks are up. The DJ average represents big corporations (like the Walmart's that deliver what the mom and pop shops can't).
Who owns the stock market? Who reaps the benefit?
Well, half of the value of all the stocks on the DJ are owned by the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the total value of all those stocks. Only 8% is left over for the other 92% of you.

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

 

[ChristineM]

The uk economy under Johnson is pretty much the same, there is literally child starvation with the UN helping to feed children. Something not seen since WW2.

But hey, boris and his buddies are doing all right out if it. And his followers think he is saving Britain

 

[pearl]

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

One does not have to be an economist to recognize that the majority of Americans are not stock holders and not until these are passed down through higher wages and education will the average person benefit.

 

[paarsurrey]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

"But," says Trump, and so many of his supporters, "look at the stock market -- it's soaring, it's a wonder!"

Okay, stocks are up. The DJ average represents big corporations (like the Walmart's that deliver what the mom and pop shops can't).
Who owns the stock market? Who reaps the benefit?
Well, half of the value of all the stocks on the DJ are owned by the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the total value of all those stocks. Only 8% is left over for the other 92% of you.

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

Well one means that one is just an ordinary man in the street like me, please.
I understand that US should be a welfare state like its neighbor Canada. Right, please?

Regards

 

[Subduction Zone]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

"But," says Trump, and so many of his supporters, "look at the stock market -- it's soaring, it's a wonder!"

Okay, stocks are up. The DJ average represents big corporations (like the Walmart's that deliver what the mom and pop shops can't).
Who owns the stock market? Who reaps the benefit?
Well, half of the value of all the stocks on the DJ are owned by the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the total value of all those stocks. Only 8% is left over for the other 92% of you.

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

I tried to argue with a Trump supporter about the stock market. Facts did not impress him. I showed that even ignoring the Covid19 epidemic that Obama outperformed Trump. He thought that all that mattered were the closing numbers and not the percentage change. I hope that he does not run his own stock portfolio.

 

[Hellbound Serpiente]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

"But," says Trump, and so many of his supporters, "look at the stock market -- it's soaring, it's a wonder!"

Okay, stocks are up. The DJ average represents big corporations (like the Walmart's that deliver what the mom and pop shops can't).
Who owns the stock market? Who reaps the benefit?
Well, half of the value of all the stocks on the DJ are owned by the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the total value of all those stocks. Only 8% is left over for the other 92% of you.

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

Personally, of all the Republican American friends I had in the past, I feel like they just don't care about the "majority." One Republican American [lady] friend I had outright explicitly said that there should be (to quote her very own words) "survival of the fittest." They are unconcerned with the "majority" and are only concerned with those who are providing real value to America, and the ones due to which America is truly advancing and progressing.

If you ask for my humble opinion --- Great economy for Republicans is just great economical condition of America, regardless whether it is benefit the "majority" and/or the "minority."

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

"But," says Trump, and so many of his supporters, "look at the stock market -- it's soaring, it's a wonder!"

Okay, stocks are up. The DJ average represents big corporations (like the Walmart's that deliver what the mom and pop shops can't).
Who owns the stock market? Who reaps the benefit?
Well, half of the value of all the stocks on the DJ are owned by the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the total value of all those stocks. Only 8% is left over for the other 92% of you.

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

The stock market's rise under Trump was actually a bad sign:

Trump cut corporate tax rates. This left corporations with more cash than they had originally expected.

A lot of them used this to do stock buy-backs, which increase share price: if a company that has, say, 10 million shares buys up a million of them, the remaining shares are each worth one nine-millionth of the company's value instead of one ten-millionth. All else being equal, an investor's shares will have risen in value by 11% instantly.

That's fine by itself, but think about what that means: company after company - all of them with the objective of maximizing return for their shareholders - has declared with their actions that nothing they could do to actually grow their company would provide as much return as this small, one-time bump.

Every company that did a share buy-back decided not to use that money to re-tool their plant, hire more employees, invest in R&D for new product lines, etc., etc.

I think this speaks to their expectations for the future, and none of it's good... although it did result in a bit of a stock market bump.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Personally, of all the Republican American friends I had in the past, I feel like they just don't care about the "majority." One Republican American [lady] friend I had outright explicitly said that there should be (to quote her very own words) "survival of the fittest." They are unconcerned with the "majority" and are only concerned with those who are providing real value to America, and the ones due to which America is truly advancing and progressing.

If you ask for my humble opinion --- Great economy for Republicans is just great economical condition of America, regardless whether it is benefit the "majority" and/or the "minority."

They pretty much just think about how things affect them, not their neighbor. I guess the "Greed is good" mantra suits them.

 

[Stevicus]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

"But," says Trump, and so many of his supporters, "look at the stock market -- it's soaring, it's a wonder!"

Okay, stocks are up. The DJ average represents big corporations (like the Walmart's that deliver what the mom and pop shops can't).
Who owns the stock market? Who reaps the benefit?
Well, half of the value of all the stocks on the DJ are owned by the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the total value of all those stocks. Only 8% is left over for the other 92% of you.

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

(For the record, and before anybody makes a sneering comment, I am NOT an economist, nor have I ever claimed to be one. I am not, in fact, particularly good at my own finances. I am, in other words, like most people.)

Obviously, the economy has taken a turn for the worse due to the coronavirus. This is a global phenomenon which can't be blamed on any one leader or government.

But setting that aside, for much of my life I've seen this kind of rhetoric - going back to at least the Reagan years when they said the economy was great - and they based this conclusion solely on the performance of the stock market. I recognize it as a variation on the Emperor's New Clothes gambit. To keep harping on the idea that the economy is good, when it clearly is not, is analogous to telling people that a naked man is wearing clothes and expecting them to believe it. Surprisingly, many people did believe it and still continue to believe it.

But Democrats have also fallen to this malady as well. Many said the economy was good under Clinton and Obama, when it clearly was not. (A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (cbpp.org))

If our economy was good, then all of these lines would be the same as the line representing the income gains of the top 1%. Since this is clearly not the case, then the economy should not be regarded as "good."

However, it's not just a matter of income, but also productivity. How much do we actually manufacture and produce in this country? Not much.

This has hit home, especially during this pandemic, when we found that a lot of the supplies we need are made in other countries, not in America. If we have to import manufactured goods from other countries, then that would indicate that America has lost its ability to manufacture. Our economy has regressed due to backwards thinking which started with Reagan and has continued ever since.

 

[Kenny]

This baffles me, frankly. I hear it over and over, how good Donald Trump has been for the economy. Yet, consider just a few facts:

How long are the food bank lines, these days?
How many people will be losing their homes, or have real trouble feeding their kids?

This is a course in illogical thinking and cherry picking.

Try asking those question pre-Covid!

 

[Subduction Zone]

This is a course in illogical thinking and cherry picking.

Try asking those question pre-Covid!

Pre-Covid Obama outperformed Trump when it came to the stock market.

 

[Kenny]

It would appear we are headed in the right direction.

 

[Kenny]

Pre-Covid Obama outperformed Trump when it came to the stock market.

I'm not talking about the stock market. Goal post movement here

 

[Subduction Zone]

View attachment 46268

It would appear we are headed in the right direction.

Or we were. That graph stops in 2017.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I'm not talking about the stock market. Goal post movement here

Not a goalpost movement. The stock market is one of the indicators of how well the economy is working. If you don't know how to use logical fallacies it is wisest to leave them alone.

 

[McBell]

I'm not talking about the stock market. Goal post movement here

and now we know that it is you who moved the goal posts....

 

[Kenny]

Or we were. That graph stops in 2017.

Yes.... I tried to find other information on the internet but it seems to stop on 2017 / 2016

Media blackout for some reason.

 

[Kenny]

Not a goalpost movement. The stock market is one of the indicators of how well the economy is working. If you don't know how to use logical fallacies it is wisest to leave them alone.

If you want to look at it that way... then it has broken the records again and again... so what is your point? did you want to compare unemployment pre-covid with Obama?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Is that what "a great economy" really is? Or is a great economy one that benefits the majority, not a tiny minority?

An economy for those who forgot an economy is people, not numbers. I've been convinced that is how they access it since Obama's recession recovery. The numbers were great. The situation of the People wasn't.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Yes.... I tried to find other information on the internet but it seems to stop on 2017 / 2016

Media blackout for some reason.

Or you just found a graph that didn't have it.
Media blackout.