Monday, June 05, 2017

A report card on Trumponomics

Trumponomics report card drifts up in May. Boo. It seems mostly just about the stock market. Employment not so good in May; a weak data point detracting from Trump's, total in this report by Yahoo Finance columnist Rick Newman. Overall, Trump has gained, tho. Stock market weighs heavy in these figures, but stocks did better under Obama during his "first 4 month" report. Also better under George W. Bush in the first May of his term.

Does the stock market indicate economic success? In my opinion, success should be measured more by the level of happiness and fulfillment of people at the grassroots level.

Folks, on the left, say the stock market is mostly just for the rich. To some extent that's true, but I'll admit that rising stocks can benefit ordinary people with investments in mutual funds and retirement savings that are in stocks. Ideally, this can even help small savers more than, for instance, house values. In Seattle, where home values soar around $700,000, one has to be pretty wealthy to partake. At least with the stock market, small investors can partake for a few thousand, rather than a few hundred thousand, dollars.

Money is not necessarily the true measure of an equitable society. How happy, safe and fulfilled are the people? Both housing and stocks could be just inflationary bubbles.

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