A majority of a group of economists surveyed recently said that President Trump has been either “somewhat” or “strongly” positive in terms of job creation, economic growth and rises in the stock market in the U.S. The group was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal. According the Journal, most “suggested Mr. Trump’s election deserves at least some credit” for the strong economy.
The economists cited the administrations push for deregulation and the recent tax bill signed last month as the reasons for the economic upturn. More than 90% of the group believes the tax bill is going to increase GDP over the next two years.
A year ago, in the same survey, economists gave former President Obama mixed reviews. His policies were seen as positive for financial stability, but neutral at best for GDP growth, and negative for long-term growth. President Trump was considered by the group as being neutral to positive for long-term growth.
What’s the variable that caused the group to rate President Trump higher than President Obama as far as the economy goes? They pointed to increased business confidence and tied that to increasing business investment. Spending on capital goods, such as buildings, machinery and computers, increased rapidly over the first three quarters of 2017, growing at an annualized rate of 6.2%.
Public opinion seems to be lagging behind the opinion of economists, however. Sixty-six percent of Americans surveyed in a recent poll said the wealthy will “benefit the most” from the president’s tax plan, and 52% said they do not approve of it.