Trump? Obama? No, Thank These Three for This Bountiful Economy
Neither president deserves as much credit as Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen and Jay Powell.
Everyone to thank is in this room.
Photograph: Bloomberg
In economic terms, Americans have a lot to be thankful for this year. Unemployment is at record lows, more people are actually working (as opposed to dropping out of the workforce), and wage growth is improving for workers on the low end of the scale. Other countries, when recovering after a big financial crisis, have suffered though a “lost decade” of slow or negative growth. The U.S. appears to have lost only half a decade:
Some of this recovery, of course, is due to natural economic forces. Like a violin string that gets plucked by a finger, economies that suffer deeper downturns have more room to bounce back. The Great Recession probably caused the delay of many capital equipment purchases and other investments. Now that more favorable conditions prevail, firms are making up lost ground.