Karl W. Smith, Columnist

Trump’s Impeachment Is Already Hurting the Economy

His erratic response — and Democrats’ response to it — is increasing political and economic uncertainty.

October 1, 2019 at 3:00 PM UTC

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Previously, he was vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation and assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

Pointing fingers.
Photographer: Eilon Paz/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

The U.S. economy has been amazingly resistant to the weaknesses afflicting the global economy — until now. Dual threats arising from President Donald Trump and his 2020 Democratic rivals will test its resilience.

Major economic indicators in Europe and Japan have sagged this year, but the U.S. economy has remained startlingly healthy. On one level, this isn’t hard to understand: Congress passed a deficit-exploding tax cut in 2017 and has approved record increases in spending, both of which gave a shot in the arm to the economy.