Republicans get credit for being strong on the economy but when reflecting on economic trends over the past 25 years that may be a false assumption.
In 2000 after eight years of a Democratic administration our country had a strong economy with a balanced federal budget. A Republican president was elected in 2000 inheriting that strong economy. In 2008 when the Republicans left office the Democrats inherited an economy with bank failures, an auto industry bankrupt, and an economy on the verge of economic depression. The bottom fell out of the stock market in 2008 with Dow dropping to below 8,000. The economy was in shambles.
Eight years later in 2016 under a Democratic administration the auto industry was back on its feet, the banking industry stabilized, and inflation and interest rates low with the Dow close to 16,000. The Trump Republican administration inherited a strong economy.
Over the next three years during the Trump administration the economy built by the Democrats continued strong. In 2018 the Republicans passed a large tax cut mainly benefiting corporations, that being the major economic action taken during the Trump administration.
In January 2021 at the end of the Trump administration the economy hit a low point leaving another Democratic administration faced to repair. As the horror of the pandemic lifted federal programs were implemented to stimulate the economy. The economy began to recover with consumer demand exceeding supply in 2021 and 2022 triggering corporations to take advantage of the increased demand by increasing prices, spiking inflation and generating record profits. During the peak of the pandemic in 2020 gas prices dropped to around $2.00 per gallon. When people began traveling again petroleum companies, taking advantage of the increased demand, raised gas prices to over $4.00 per gallon. The high gas prices generated the largest profit margins for petroleum companies in ten years.
Following the spike in prices driven by corporations, inflation began to decline in 2023 and 2024 and the stock market soared to a current high of over 43,000. Today, the U.S. economy is touted as the strongest in the world.
In the Villages-News.com Commentary posted on 10/29, William Beckett reported most economists have concluded the economic plan proposed by Harris will be a greater benefit to Americans as compared to Trump’s plan which is based largely on huge tariff increases and will be paid for by you and I through higher prices.
I suspect if Trump is elected that in 2028 another Democrat will be elected to clean up the economic mess created by Trump.
Tom Berge is a resident of the Village of Charlotte.
