Are We Better Off Under Trump? The Short Answer is No

This piece follows articles by Simon Rosenberg on NDN.org and Rob Shapiro in The Washington Post that take a look at the same issue in slightly different ways. You can find the data and charts that accompany this piece here.

When Donald Trump entered office the American economy had recovered from the Great Recession and just seen two very strong years.  While the economy was very good in Obama’s second term, it was particularly good in 2015-2016 – strong job and wage growth, a booming stock market, low interest rates, low energy prices, a big decline in the uninsured rate, lower than usual health care cost increases, and a rapidly declining annual deficit.   Despite Trump’s “carnage” rhetoric, the economy was in good shape in late 2016 with no real dark clouds on the horizon.

Since assuming office the President aggressively implemented a very different approach than his predecessor on economic and fiscal matters, trade, health care, and many other issues.  Enough time has passed to evaluate whether this new Trumpian approach has worked, and made the good economy he inherited better.   Let’s start with the negative side of the ledger:

Job, wage, and income growth have slowed – In 2015 and 2016, monthly job growth averaged 211,000 jobs under Obama.  Under Trump, monthly job growth has averaged 193,000 jobs, a decline of almost 10%.  

In 2015 and 2016, median household income increased by 5.2% and 3.1%. In 2017 median household income increased by only 1.8%. Similarly, real wages for all workers increased by an annual average of 1.6% in 2015-16.   In 2017-18 they have increased by an average of only 0.5%.    

The annual deficit has exploded - During Obama’s second term, the deficit averaged 3.09% of GDP while under Trump it has averaged 3.66%. Furthermore, the CBO projects that the deficit will surge to 4.6% of GDP in 2019 and 2020. According to a new study, all of that increase stems from Trump’s tax cut, which makes sense given that it is unusual that the deficit would increase significantly while the economy is close to full employment.

Gas prices are rising - The average gas price in 2015 and 2016 was $2.29/gallon.  It rose to $2.42/gallon in 2017 and $2.88/gallon in 2018.  While many factors affect gas prices, the President’s renewed sanctions on Iran have played a significant role in recent increases.

Interest rates are rising -. Since Trump took office the yield on the benchmark 10-yr US Treasury has increased from 2.45% to 3.16%. This 0.71 percentage point (pp) increase compares to a gain of only 0.23pp in Obama’s last two years in office. The rate on a standard 30-year fixed mortgage has increased by 0.58pp under Trump, after increasing only 0.45pp in Obama’s last two years.  

Interest rates and gas prices are at least 25% higher than when Trump took office, making every day things far more expensive for the American people.  Credit card monthly balances, car loans, mortgages, and driving to work all cost significantly more now under Trump.  For those in the middle class and those striving to get there, this is no small thing. 

The trade deficit is widening – The trade deficit averaged $389 billion in Obama’s second term.  In 2017 it hit $449 billion, the largest such deficit since 2008. The 2018 numbers so far are even higher than 2017.    

Tariffs are hurting American businesses and consumers – There is a great deal of data to back this up but we will share just a few of the most important.  In the auto industry, estimates are that Trump’s tariffs on Chinese vehicles and auto parts will increase the price of a typical vehicle by $4,400 and eliminate 715,000 jobs. Farmers, meanwhile, will lose over $12 billion in earnings this year alone as a result of Trump’s trade policies.  Estimates suggest the President’s steel and aluminum tariffs alone will cause the loss of another 179,000 jobs in manufacturing and services. It is little wonder, then, that Trump’s trade policy is historically unpopular, with voters opposing his tariffs 46-28 in Pennsylvania, 41-29 in Missouri, and 47-39 in Wisconsin.

The decline in the uninsured rate has slowed, for some it is increasing now - Under Obama, the uninsured rate steadily declined, with drops of 2.9pp in 2014, 1.3pp in 2015, and 0.3pp in 2016. This progress abruptly stopped under Trump, with the uninsured rate remaining at 8.8% in 2017, representing the first year since 2010 that the uninsured rate had not fallen. Furthermore, 2017 was the first year since 2010 that the uninsured rate gap between those making over $100,000/year and those making under $100,000/year actually increased. In 2017, higher income earners (over $100,000/year) saw a decrease in their uninsured rate by 0.2pp, while lower income earners (under $100,000/year) saw an increase in their uninsured rate by 0.3pp. 

Rising uninsured rates for those struggling to get by will of course also make it far harder to tackle the opioid epidemic. In 2017, over 72,000 people died as a result of the opioid crisis, compared to 64,000 in 2016 and 52,000 in 2015. Meanwhile, evidence suggests that expansion of healthcare access reduces drug overdose deaths.

Even coal production has declined - Even US coal production continues to stay at record-low levels under Trump. During Obama’s second term, annual coal production averaged 903 million short tons.  In 2017 coal production was only 774 million short tons and estimated production in 2018 will be even less, coming in at 741 million short tons.

To be fair, not everything is worse today.  Let’s look at the positive side of the economic ledger:

GDP growth has increased - During Obama’s second term, annual real GDP growth averaged 2.3% (and only 2% in 2015-16). In 2017, however, real growth increased by 2.6% and the CBO projects that it will increase by 3.1% in 2018. As a result, growth under Trump in 2017-18 will average 2.85% compared to the 2.3% it averaged in 2013-16 under Obama.

However, when put into the context of the significant fiscal stimulus that Trump has undertaken, the level of GDP growth we’ve experienced may actually deserve to sit on the negative side of the balance sheet.  The CBO estimates that Trump’s tax cut will increase the federal debt by $1.8 trillion by 2028. They also estimate that the tax cut will increase real GDP by 0.7% by 2028, equal to about $180 billion out of an estimated GDP of $25 trillion. As a result, for every $10 of tax cuts, only $1 of new growth will be created, for a multiplier of only 10%. By contrast, economists estimate that the multiplier for infrastructure spending is closer to 80%.  In other words the stimulus was badly designed and is providing the American people a very low rate of return. 

So while GDP is up a bit under Trump this growth is not providing the kind of across the board benefits we would expect to see – wages and job growth haven’t picked up – and it has come at the cost of the fiscal integrity of the US. 

The stock market has made strong gains, but not as strong as Clinton and Obama - Since Trump took office, the S&P 500 has gained almost 24%, representing wealth creation of over $5.3 trillion. Similar to the increase in GDP growth, however, context makes this metric less impressive. During Obama’s second term in office, the S&P 500 increased by 57%, an average annual increase of 14.3% compared to Trump’s average increase of 13.6%. During Clinton’s second term, furthermore, the S&P 500 increased by 76.5%, an annual increase of 19.1%.

Like with Trump’s growth numbers, the modest increase in the stock market we’ve seen is actually disappointing given that virtually all of the stimulus went to American companies and the investor class. 

So are we better off? Most measures of the US economy are worse today than when Trump took office.  Job, income, and wage growth all have slowed, while costs for everyday things are rising dramatically.   The modest increases we’ve seen in GDP and the stock market have come at an extraordinary cost, as the 2017 tax bill provided a very badly designed and inefficient stimulus which simply isn’t providing the kind of returns the American people should have expected. 

Worse still, the President’s policies have made it very challenging to manage a recession or global economic event if it were to come.  By 2020, the federal deficit will be 4.6% of GDP (compared to 1.1% in 2007 on the eve of the Great Recession), meaning that there will be little room for fiscal stimulus to boost a recovery. Furthermore, our economic and diplomatic relations with the most advanced economies in the world have been frayed through Trump’s aggressive tactics, and his economic team is among the weakest in modern US history.  Finally, Trump’s economic policy has worsened the long-term future of the country. By the time the next presidential term starts in 2021, the CBO estimates that GDP growth will be 1.5% (compared to 2.3% in 2013-16), interest rates on new debt will be 4.1% (compared to 2.1% in 2013-16), and the deficit will be 4.9% of GDP (compared to 3.1% in 2013-16).  

So, are we better off under Trump? Based on our analysis, we think the answer is no.