January 25, 2021
2:11 PM ET
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Before the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump beat some experts’ economic expectations and pursued policies that kicked the American economy into gear.
During Trump’s four-year tenure as president, the American economy saw levels of growth and employment that beat the expectations of some economic experts in academia and government. Trump’s tax cuts, deregulation, and other economic policies helped business confidence soar, and led to larger disposable incomes for America’s poor and middle class before the coronavirus pandemic.
Based on then-candidate Trump’s policy proposals during the 2016 campaign, economic optimism quickly set in before Trump was inaugurated. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Business Confidence Index quickly saw business confidence in the United States shoot up to match Obama-era highs. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism
Wall Street's main indexes are posting small gains on Tuesday. Energy stocks are rising sharply on the back of surging crude oil prices. Defensive sectors
Economy Report: Phases and Stages
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Jan 12, 2021
A key indicator of consumer confidence slipped in December as the coronavirus pandemic raged on in the United States amid the initial rollout of vaccines to combat the virus. The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 88.6 from a revised 92.9 in November, dropping to its lowest reading since August.
“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions deteriorated sharply in December, as the resurgence of Covid-19 remains a drag on confidence,” Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, stated in a press release. “As a result, consumers’ vacation intentions, which had notably improved in October, have retreated. On the flip side, as consumers continue to hunker down at home, intentions to purchase appliances have risen. Overall, it appears that growth has weakened further in Q4, and consumers do not foresee the economy gaining any significant momentum in early