Posted on 07/27/2018 2:58:39 PM PDT by Beave Meister
Prepare to be excited about a blockbuster economic report on Friday morning — but not too excited.
Preliminary data from the Commerce Department is expected to show that United States gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of more than 4 percent in April through June. Some economists think growth may have topped 5 percent — a figure reached only once in the eight years of the Obama administration as the economy recovered from the recession.
While he said he didn’t know the actual number, President Trump didn’t wait to herald the rosy news. At an event in Iowa on Thursday, he said he was expecting a very strong result, noting predictions that ran to 5 percent or higher. “It could be very close,” he said. “Could even happen.”
“We’ll take anything with a four in front,” he added.
Even a number starting with a four, though, will almost certainly be misleading. Several one-time factors — including a surge in exports tied, at least in part, to Mr. Trump’s trade policies — probably combined to pump up growth in the second quarter. Those effects won’t last, and economists expect growth to slow in the second half of the year. Pretty much no one outside the White House thinks a growth rate of 4 percent is sustainable in the long term.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I didn’t say it was a good thing. But, that’s what we have today. People cheering as the national debt goes up. Tax cuts and more .gov spending. Party while ya still can.
Using a 2% constant growth rate the economy doubles in 36 years. A 4% growth rate and the economy doubles in 18 years.
What happens to tax revenues when the economy doubles?
Is the economy growing without .gov debt?
These are the same group of ‘economists’ that had everything under Obama as ‘Unexpected’.
Is the New York Times a newspaper or a collection of mean-spirited grinches? A 4.1% growth rate seems like a disaster to these nasty wretches.
If I remember correctly the 5% number was achieved by shifting previous medical sector spending from a dismal quarter to a moderate quarter. The shift represented a lot of spending that was being done during the implementation of Obamacare. There were a couple good articles back then about what total BS the 5% figure was and how a big portion of that GDP should have been credited to a previous quarter.
Being a left-wing “economist” means never having to say you are sorry.
I believe it’s much higher than 4.1%.
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