Strong: A relatively good year

“With three months to go, 2024 has turned out to be a relatively good year economically, with low unemployment, declining interest rates, easing inflation and gains for people owning stocks and real estate.”

— Arizona Republic, Oct. 6

The U.S. presidential election is a few days away. Many people have already voted or made up their minds. Anything I write will likely have little effect, but I wanted to share some facts.

Voters who support former President Donald Trump believe he will support the Constitution and uphold law and order. This is despite the fact that he’s a convicted felon who has praised the mob of thugs who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They also believe he will make the economy better. This ignores how the economy does historically under Republicans and Democrats.

I want to emphasize one clear fact. The American economy currently is the best in the world. I said this to a devout Trump supporter and she laughed and said, “No, it’s the worst!” She believes what Trump has repeatedly told his followers, but it’s not true.

According to the International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook database, in 2023 our GDP was $26.9 trillion, over 40 percent larger than China, the next biggest economy. In 2022, it was $25.5 trillion, also the strongest by far. Our economy is five times larger than both Germany and Japan, which were third and fourth. In fact, “...the strength of the U.S. economy following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a marvel to many economists and world economic experts.” (U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 22)

This is typical of the American economy under Democratic presidents. We know the Great Depression started under Republican President Herbert Hoover and ended under Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt, but let’s explore more recent history.

On Jan. 20, 1989, Republican President George H. W. Bush was inaugurated. Since then, including him, we’ve had three Republican presidents – G.H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. We’ve also had three Democratic presidents – Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.

During those 36 years, 51 million net new jobs were created – one million under the Republicans and 50 million under the Democrats. How did this extreme divergence happen?

In 1990, under G.H.W. Bush, the U.S. entered recession, with just 2.5 million jobs created.

When Clinton came into office, his policies resulted in a booming economy. During the last three years of his administration, he was paying down the national debt; there was no deficit. Clinton created 22.7 million jobs.

George W. Bush was elected in 2000. Under him, the U.S. suffered the Great Recession. Millions of jobs were lost. Millions of Americans lost their homes in the 2007-8 housing crash. In eight years, Bush created a net total of 1.1 million jobs.

Obama was elected in 2008. He pulled us out of the Great Recession and set the economy on a strong path. It took a few years, but Obama ended up creating 11.6 million jobs. He left a thriving economy for Donald Trump, the next president.

Trump coasted along on Obama’s economy, but he created fewer jobs in his first three years than Obama had in his last three years. By February 2020, before COVID hit, we were entering a recession. When Trump left office, he had a net loss of 2.7 million jobs.

Once again, a Democrat, Joe Biden, had to come in and fix what the Republicans broke, helping America recover from the pandemic. Under Biden’s leadership, 16 million jobs have been created, and inflation is down to 2.4 percent. We are heading for what economists call a “soft landing,” meaning we won’t be going into recession as long as current policies are maintained.

Clearly, Democrats are much better for the economy. H. John Gilbertson, former managing director of Goldman Sachs, says Democratic administrations reduce the U.S. budget deficit, and stock market returns are 60 percent higher under Democrats compared to Republicans. In 2020, Trump said, “If Biden gets in, you will have a stock market go down like you wouldn’t believe.” Instead, it’s been consistently setting records.

Sadly, 54 percent of Americans still mistakenly trust Trump more with the economy. If Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president, she will keep the economy growing; she won’t take away your guns, your beef, or your windows. She won’t base her administration on grievance and revenge, as Trump promises to do.

If you haven’t voted yet, remember this – Kamala Harris will keep America strong.

Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Foundation award-winning columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.