Friday, May 3, 2019

The New York Times puzzles over how well the economy is doing

The New York Times explains why — unexpectedly — wages are rising and the economy has been growing at more than 3% for 9 straight months.

The Times says:

The recent gains are going to those who need it most. Over the past year, low-wage workers have experienced the fastest pay increases, a shift from earlier in the recovery, when wage growth was concentrated at the top.
The Times manages to find some not-so-great news in all that:
African-American workers have seen smaller gains over the course of the recovery, for example. And wage growth remains slow in some parts of the country that were hit especially hard by the recession.
Still, if these overall trends keep going through next year, Donald Trump will be on a glide path to reelection.

I'm not saying that to support Trump. I plan to vote against him. Just because the economy's doing well doesn't mean Trump's policies are the reason, and even if his policies are having good short-term effects they could still be bad in the long run.

But when was the last time voters denied the president a second term when the economy was doing well?

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