The doom and gloom over President Trump's plans for the economy has almost become unbearable to listen to. It is "he is making the rich richer," this and, "the tariffs are going to cause inflation," that. But after almost one year in office, the second term of President Trump has already proven dividends in the economy, and tariffs have played a role in that resurgence.
The numbers for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the fourth quarter are not out yet, but the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta keeps a running forecast called GDPNow. According to their most recent updated forecast on January 8th, it estimates real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 5.4-percent, up from 2.7-percent on January 5th.
That is despite all the media and experts projecting a bleak future. Which they have done since Trump took office. Yet, none of those fears have been truly realized.
Silvio Canto Jr. of The American Thinker says the most recent inflation numbers have looked good, and this projected spike in economic growth is a huge positive.
"Some experts either got it wrong or were more politically motivated than necessarily motivated by facts," he says.
Inflation has fallen under Trump, and currently sits at 2.7-percent, which has been in line with expectations. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) did tick up 0.3-percent in December, but all-in-all, things have been looking up. Enough so that the Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates.
None of the fears over tariffs ever truly came to fruition either. Mostly because the tariffs were never truly about the money. It was all a piece of the puzzle in the grand art of the deal, for which President Trump is so well-known.
"Trump is a deal maker more than anything else...he simply said unless you do this, I will use the tariffs...but did not have to because other countries like Japan, South Korea, and all of Europe came to cut a deal," says Canto. "We have better trade deals with those countries now than before, simply because President Trump was willing to use the tariff weapon as a threat."
It was an effective threat, as even countries like China have come to the table to negotiate new deals. It could not have come sooner either, as the United States was being shafted in trade deals for decades.
But again, it was all smoke and mirrors. A pawn in a chess game to put the U.S. back on top.
"Most countries today are negotiating without the tariff, and we have a better economic deal than we did before," says Canto.
He also notes that many experts can be politically driven, so you have to be wary to whom you may listen.
This fourth quarter projection could very well change in the coming days. But if it holds true, the U.S. could be on the verge of correcting the wrongs made by the previous administration.
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