Nowhere to go but down.
Is Donald Trump inheriting the best economy in history?
“President Trump is inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told the New York Times last week. “The U.S. economy is the envy of the rest of the world, as it is the only significant economy that is growing more quickly postpandemic than prepandemic.”
Friday’s economic data only furthered Zandi’s argument, as Trump will now inherit a lower unemployment rate than any president since Richard Nixon in 1969, according to Labor Department statistics.
Trump is also returning to the Oval Office in the midst of a scorching run for the stock market, with the S&P 500 gaining 23.3% in 2024, according to FactSet — better than any clip for a calendar year preceding a White House transition since Reagan took office in the wake of a 25.8% climb for the S&P in 1980.
Even the inflation rate — the great political weakness of President Joe Biden — has come down significantly and remains well within the historical norm.
The latest reading of the consumer-price index in November showed prices rising at a 2.7% annual rate. That’s a bit above the average rate since 2000 of 2.6% but below the rate of 3.3% experienced since 1980.
Is Donald Trump inheriting the best economy in history?
“President Trump is inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told the New York Times last week. “The U.S. economy is the envy of the rest of the world, as it is the only significant economy that is growing more quickly postpandemic than prepandemic.”
Friday’s economic data only furthered Zandi’s argument, as Trump will now inherit a lower unemployment rate than any president since Richard Nixon in 1969, according to Labor Department statistics.
Trump is also returning to the Oval Office in the midst of a scorching run for the stock market, with the S&P 500 gaining 23.3% in 2024, according to FactSet — better than any clip for a calendar year preceding a White House transition since Reagan took office in the wake of a 25.8% climb for the S&P in 1980.
Even the inflation rate — the great political weakness of President Joe Biden — has come down significantly and remains well within the historical norm.
The latest reading of the consumer-price index in November showed prices rising at a 2.7% annual rate. That’s a bit above the average rate since 2000 of 2.6% but below the rate of 3.3% experienced since 1980.
