Let’s Try Clear Lenses to View the Economy

Lately we have seen everything from school lunches to sneakers to the 4th of July politicized. That’s a pity.

But a greater pity is the politicization of the U.S. economy. The left declares the economy is the opposite of what it is. Left-wing voices try to drown out the good economic news.

The improvements in the economy only benefit the rich, they tell us. The tax cuts only helped the wealthy, they claim. But hard facts brutally destroy their claims.

I can understand why politicians do this. They need to denigrate their opponents. They need to badmouth anything for which their opponents take credit.

In these times, progressive politicians feel they must oppose everything President Trump touches. 

I wish voices on the left would change their rhetoric. I know it’s an impossible hope, but imagine if they would declare their hatred of Trump yet also acknowledge our economy is improving the lot of most Americans. Or at least many million more people than in the past.

I’d like to hear the opponents say: “We despise Trump. We refuse to give him credit for anything large or small. But yes, the economy is doing well for more and more of the people of this country. And if we are elected, it will improve it more and help even more people.”

Impossible dream, so why wish for it? Because it would be good for more of us to appreciate what a tonic fewer regulations and lower tax rates are for an economy.

This administration has certainly reduced regulations that govern our lives and businesses. And its tax reforms lowered taxes for most Americans — directly and indirectly. To suggest these moves did not contribute to the growth in the economy is to stick your head deep in the sand.

The economy has responded the way it did to similar reforms in the JFK era. It has also reacted positively the way it did to similar reforms many decades ago. 

The U.S. government is collecting more in taxes, despite the lower tax rates. This is because the economy is expanding and automatically throwing off more tax revenue. 

Americans deserve to know this. They don’t deserve the distortions served up by Trump-hating politicians, academics, and the media.

The haters claim, for instance, that the poor have received zilch from the healthier economy. Tell that to the more than 3 million folks who have stopped collecting food stamps. (Remember, 10 million joined the food stamp rolls during the Obama years.)

The haters claim minorities have been ignored in our economic expansion. Tell that to millions of them who have come off the unemployment rolls. The jobless rates for minorities are dramatically lower than they were. Unemployment has fallen twice as much for blacks as it has for whites.

The Wall Street Journal reminded us recently that more than 3 million blacks and Hispanics have jobs now than two years ago. A smaller percentage of black women are unemployed now than at any time in nearly 50 years.

We hear critics claim that poor folks might have work, but they have to work two jobs to survive. The facts say something else. About 5 percent of Americans hold more than one job. The figure has not changed in the last nine years.

The detractors tell us workers are not seeing wage gains. Another distortion. Average hourly pay is growing at a good clip. And growing faster than it was a few years ago.

There are lessons we can all learn, or re-learn, from this situation. Our economy has grown healthier at a time when we have reduced government’s interference. (For regulations and taxes certainly interfere.) In growing healthier, it has improved the fortunes of most Americans.

We might be smart to try more of the same. And we should certainly think twice before raising tax rates and adding more government regulations.

From Tom…as in Morgan.                   

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home in upstate New York. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com, read more of his writing at tomasinmorgan.com, or find him on Facebook.