After the flurry of amazing recent economic news, MAGA might well stand for “Make America Grow Again.” It’s time we start to call this economy “The Trump Boom.”
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDP model now forecasts second quarter national growth at an astounding 4.7 percent. This growth is a stark contrast from the Obama era, where the benefits of that slow-growth era flowed primarily to the very top of the economic strata through asset inflation rather than on-the-ground Main Street growth.
[Also read: US unemployment rate ties lowest level in nearly 50 years]
For example, the National Association of Manufacturers just released its latest survey and an astounding 95 percent of manufacturers reported a positive outlook for their companies, the highest ever recorded. Importantly, 90 percent of those members are small-to-medium sized operations. In addition, more than 70 percent of those respondents plan to both hire more workers and to increase wages.
Such amazing news emanates directly from the Trump pro-growth policies of tax cuts and regulatory relief. Drew Greenblatt, who runs Marlin Steel & Wire Products and manufactures in the heart of Baltimore wrote that the tax cuts were “truly game changing” and that “I have never felt as optimistic as I have over the last year.” His firm just purchased $1 million in new American-made equipment and increased its workforce by 10 percent.
Critics of Trump often ascribe this economic momentum to his predecessor, but in June 2016, right before Trump’s electoral triumph, just 32 percent of Americans rated the economy as “good” or “excellent.” Today, 62 percent do. That consumer confidence reflects wages that are finally rising for working-class Americans as the first quarter of 2018 saw the highest income growth for any quarter in more than a decade.
Because of this confidence and income growth, consumers are spending again. On Thursday, Darden Restaurants reported a blowout earnings report sending the stock gapping higher to new all-time highs. Its flagship Olive Garden restaurant markets a modestly-priced menu that middle-class consumers can afford, and the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed non-managerial wage growth at decade highs, plus a jobless rate for non-college graduates as a 17-year-low. So, keep those breadsticks coming! Speaking of food, since Trump’s election, an incredible 2 million Americans have stopped receiving food stamps, an incredible movement toward self-sufficiency.
While the mainstream media fixates on border issues and pursues a hysterical narrative to demonize both the president and our federal law enforcement community, the reality at businesses and kitchen tables across America is an optimism and prosperity unknown since the 1990s.
America is back in business, confident, hiring, investing, and working. The Trump Boom is real, and it is just getting started.
Steve Cortes is a CNN Political Commentator and serves on the Trump 2020 Election Advisory Council.
