Trump’s economy trumps Democrat negativism

The recent jobs report was not just good news.  It was not an incremental improvement over the past pandemic-driven decline.  More than 2.5 million jobs were created – a record for a single month.  The Unemployment rate dropped from 14.4 to 13.4 at a time the Democrat media economists were predicting a significant rise to more than 20 percent in the coming months.

It was shocking because the naysayers on the left have been predicting a looooong slooooow recovery.  Actually, they were hoping for it – working for it. Some of the folks on MSNBC looked as stunned, flabbergasted disappointed as they did when Trump won the 2016 election.

Proving again that the left does not understand the American people, the employers and workers of America had demonstrated the resiliency and determination that more than justified President Trump’s confidence and optimism.  Steve Rattner, the in-house left-wing economic panelist on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” said that he had never … never … seen the economic prognosticators be so wrong.  His comment was especially true of those on the left who were attempting to jawbone America into a deep recession for political reasons.

It showed what a little easing of the restrictions can do.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that construction projects in the Big Apple can resume in a week.  That will put thousands of construction workers back on the payroll.

The partisan pessimists have predicted a long U-shaped recovery – with America languishing at high levels of unemployment for years.  (Please recall that these are the same folks who produced the longest and slowest recession recovery in American history – and predicted that it would not improve significantly for years to come.)

Trump and many free-market economists have suggested a V-shaped – more expeditious – recovery.  To be perfectly honest, there seems to be excessive exuberance among the V-shaped crowd, but it is likely that they will be much more accurate than the Draconian doomsayers on the left.

While the stock market is only one indicator of economic health and vitality, it is outpacing the jobs numbers in suggesting a robust recovery.  We must remember that at the time COVID-19 created a panicked response, the American economy was as strong as virtually any time in the nation’s history.

The stock market was breaking records on a regular basis as the Bulls of Wall Street extended their record run.  The market reached a record high of 28,995.  The abrupt shutdown of the American Economy plunged the Dow Jones to a low of 18,917.  It has rebounded ever since.  In recent days, it blew past the 27,000 mark – getting very close to its record highs.

Trump’s claims about the pre-COVID-19 pandemic may have been a bit hyperbolic, but essentially true.  We were at an incredibly low 3.5 percent – which professional economists consider essentially “full employment.”  I mean, zero unemployment is not even possible.  The good news was especially true for blacks and Hispanics who were experiencing the lowest unemployment in American history.

A breakdown of some of the major employment categories is also good news – as a sign of aggressive private sector growth.  Construction produced 464,000 new jobs, retail, 368,000, Healthcare 312,000, Manufacturing, 225,000 new jobs.

The public sector did not fare as well.  The massive job gain was DESPITE a 585,000 loss of government jobs.  From a conservative viewpoint, that is not entirely bad news.  Yes, we must address the issue of finding private sector employment for those individuals — but when you consider the overstaffed government, some trimming is a good thing.  Government jobs absorb wealth, they do not produce it.  They are a faux wealth that consumes the wealth of others in the form of taxes.

The major problem is for state and municipal workers since states must operate on balanced budgets.  They cannot borrow as does the federal government – and they cannot regulate the money supply.  Even before the pandemic, exorbitant and reckless spending by cities and states has created major economic crises.

What we have seen in this jobs report and the stock mark is confirmation of the Republican strategy of examining the impact of the past stimulus and relief expenditure before adding another $3 trillion to the National Debt.  If we see improvement again in next month’s report, we can certainly re-evaluate the need for such a huge expenditure – which we cannot really afford.

As can be expected, Democrats and those left-wing political reporters and analysts are stretching credulity to the limits in trying to find something negative to report – even if they have to make it up.  The worst thing that can happen to Biden and the Democrats is to have a vigorous economic rebound without the dire Democrat predictions of a Covid-19 redux in the Fall.

So, there ‘tis.