President Trump marks his first year in office Saturday riding a wave of strong economic news, including a record-high stock market, a low unemployment rate and computer giant Apple’s decision to bring back hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas and create 20,000 U. S. jobs, spurred by Republican tax cuts.<\/b>
\nPresident Trump marks his first year in office Saturday riding a wave of strong economic news, including a record-high stock market, a low unemployment rate and computer giant Apple\u2019s decision to bring back hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas and create 20,000 U. S. jobs, spurred by Republican tax cuts.
For the past year, Mr. Trump has been telling voters that his recipe of less regulation and lower taxes would be \u201crocket fuel\u201d for employers.
One year since Mr. Trump\u2019s inauguration, it looks very much like the economy is lifting off.
Corporate profits soared last year. Unemployment fell to a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, with employers adding about 2 million jobs.
Gross domestic product rose to more than 3 percent in the past two quarters. Consumer confidence and business optimism climbed, and holiday sales rose 5.5 percent over the previous year.
Factory output grew at an annual rate of 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, its strongest performance since 2010, and the Federal Reserve\u2019s data indicated more growth to come for manufacturers.
\u201cAt the center of America\u2019s resurgence are the massive tax cuts that I just signed into law,\u201d Mr. Trump told cheering blue-collar workers Thursday at a plant near Pittsburgh. \u201cYou\u2019re already seeing what\u2019s happening. There\u2019s never been a better time to hire in America, to invest in America and to believe in the American Dream than right now.\u201d
There were so many positive economic developments in the past week that it was hard to choose just one. But Apple\u2019s stunning announcement of plans for expansion and hiring capped a string of decisions by nearly 190 employers to raise wages or hand out employee bonuses for 2.2 million workers, invest in new facilities or donate more to charities as a result of the corporate tax cuts approved last month.
The world\u2019s most valuable public company announced that it will inject $350 billion into the U. S. economy over the next five years by repatriating most of the $252 billion in cash it holds abroad, a move prompted by the law\u2019s one-time lower tax rate of 15.5 percent, down from 35 percent. The company expects to pay about $38 billion to the U. S. Treasury.
The iPhone maker also said it will build a new campus in the U. S. and increase its 84,000-employee workforce by nearly 25 percent. Apple plans to spend more than $30 billion on equipment to make its products, and it is giving each employee a $2,500 bonus of restricted stock units.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said large parts of these moves are a result of the tax cuts. The president said he called Mr. Cook Wednesday to thank him.
\u201cI don\u2019t imagine there\u2019s ever been an investment that big in this country. They\u2019re really going to town,\u201d the president said. \u201cThe good news keeps pouring in.\u201d
Political dysfunction
But amid the good economic news, the partisan dysfunction in Washington is as bad as ever. The president, who was locked in a spending and immigration dispute with congressional Democrats that threatened a partial government shutdown beginning Friday night, said Democrats \u201cwould like to blunt\u201d the positive news resulting from the tax cuts by diverting the public\u2019s attention.
Not a single Democrat in Congress voted for the tax overhaul.
\u201cI really believe the Democrats want a shutdown to get off the subject of the tax cuts,\u201d Mr. Trump told reporters. \u201cThat is not a good subject for them.\u201d
Touring an equipment supply company near Pittsburgh that had its best year in 2017,Mr. Trump said, \u201cThis is real America. I\u2019m really happy. People are doing really well, better than they have in years.\u201d
He told cheering blue-collar workers, \u201cYou make America tick.\u201d
In Washington, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, was asked by reporters to give a report card on Mr. Trump\u2019s first year in office. She quipped, \u201cWhy don\u2019t we save that until we see if we can keep government open? That might impact the grade.\u201d
Across the board, the economy picked up steam during Mr. Trump\u2019s first year. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose to a record 26,000 on Wednesday, just one week after it hit a record of 25,000. The market was down slightly Thursday.
On Jan. 20,2017, the Dow stood at 19,827, meaning it has increased about 31 percent since Mr. Trump\u2019s inauguration.
Donald Boudreaux, co-director of the Mercatus Center\u2019s Program on the American Economy and Globalization at George Mason University, said there are several reasons for the surging stock market, including Mr. Trump\u2019s attack on regulations, the approval of tax cuts and Hillary Clinton\u2019s loss in the 2016 presidential election.
\u201cThe market had expected a Clinton presidency, which would have been horrible for the economy in a lot of ways: [more] regulation and no prospect of tax relief,\u201d Mr. Boudreaux said in an interview. \u201cOn the regulatory front, Trump has done very well. Stymieing regulation is so important, and he has done that.\u201d
While the tax cuts and reform didn\u2019t go as far as many conservatives had hoped, he said, \u201cit\u2019s certainly better than what we would have gotten under Hillary Clinton or a third term of President Obama under [liberal Sen. Bernard] Sanders or [Elizabeth] Warren. It\u2019s an improvement.\u201d
\u201cSome portion of the stock market [surge] does reflect continuing relief that we\u2019re not going to get Hillary,\u201d Mr. Boudreaux said. \u201cAnd part of it surely is due to the greater market-orientation of the regulatory agencies now.\u201d
Bigger paychecks on the way
Corporate profits soared last year, even as employers added about 2 million jobs.
Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, noted that the positive economic news is coming even before the tax cuts begin to show up for many workers in the form of bigger paychecks next month.
\u201cConfidence and optimism \u2014 that\u2019s what I\u2019m seeing all around Wyoming, and it\u2019s what I\u2019m seeing across America, as we have 2 million new jobs in the year 2017,\u201d Mr. Barrasso said. \u201cA lot has to do with eliminating the punishing regulations of a previous administration, but also the tax relief legislation.\u201d
Polling this week by Zogby Analytics found that Mr. Trump\u2019s job approval rating has improved to 46 percent (up from 37 percent in early November) \u201cbecause the current economic conditions in the U. S. are getting better.\u201d
\u201cNot everything is pointing to an economic boom, but there\u2019s increased optimism among businesses due to the recent tax cuts passed by Republicans and the stock market is at an all-time high,\u201d the polling firm said. \u201cThese factors and others might explain an increase in the president\u2019s job approval rating right now with voters.\u201d
In the latest survey, 54 percent of voters said they feel \u201cexcellent\u201d or \u201cgood\u201d about the economy for the next four years.
A New York Times\/Survey Monkey poll this week found that 46 percent of Americans approved of the tax cut law in early January, up from 37 percent when the bill was nearing passage in December. Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Chairman Jenny Beth Martin said Americans \u201care already feeling the impact of tax reform, even though it hasn\u2019t even fully kicked in yet.\u201d
\u201cThe president\u2019s determination to deliver on his conservative campaign promises to reduce regulations and cut taxes is resulting in a growing economy and a much more confident American public,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter decades of Washington dysfunction and out-of-control growth of government, the American people want results that will make their lives better. As this poll suggests, if they continue to see these results they will express their approval for the people they elected.\u201d
At the factory near Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump asked workers how their 401(k) retirement accounts were performing, and to applause, he joked, \u201cYou\u2019re brilliant investors.\u201d
\u201cIf we can keep it like this, we\u2019re going to win a lot of elections,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201c\u2018It\u2019s the economy, stupid\u2019 \u2014 did you ever hear that one? It is, indeed.\u201d
The president told employees at H&K; Equipment Inc. that he is winning the battle over \u201cpower brokers\u201d who don\u2019t represent working Americans.
\u201cAmerica doesn\u2019t belong to the Washington power brokers; it belongs to you,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cI think we\u2019ve taught them that. It doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy. It\u2019s nasty in Washington. But step by step by step, just keep going, right? But we\u2019re getting it. Nobody thought we were going to have this kind of success so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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