Donald Trump’s two favorite pastimes are crowing about the stock market’s performance and boasting about how much better he is — at everything — than President Obama.
Well, here’s another Obama policy he’s unceremoniously unraveled: not being a fucking idiot when it comes to the economy.
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of economics knows that enacting punitive tariffs — on our allies, no less — is about the dumbest thing you can do, and the surest way to throw sand in the gears of a thriving economy.
The lessons of history are clear, and have been learned over and over and over again.
Indeed, watching Trump wage his little trade war is a bit like watching MTV’s Jackass crew embroiled in a never-ending nut-kicking contest. It’s impossible for anyone to win, but that won’t stop them from trying. The difference? Trump’s trade war is far more idiotic, and somehow even less entertaining.
And we’re seeing the results of it in real time.
Trump was handed a healthy economy that really only needed some good nutrition and a checkup here and there, and he’s boring holes in its skull to let the demons out.
And now, his stock-market performance — which is about the only thing he’s had to brag about, unless you count turning our southern border into Stalag 13 — is badly lagging Obama’s.
Remember these numbers the next time Trump tweets about the stock market.
Today, the Dow closed 328 points lower … because of Trump’s moronic trade policies. It’s now dropped nine days out of the past 10, and there seems to be no bottom in sight.
So where does that leave the market since Trump took over? Well, it’s still up but, significantly, not as much as it was at this point in Obama’s presidency:
Percent increase in Dow Jones under Trump through today: 22.3%
Increase under Obama at same point in his presidency: 27.6%
And if you look at the S&P 500, which most economists agree is a more accurate measure of the stock market’s health, the news is even worse for Trump.
Here’s the comparison:
Percent increase in S&P 500 under Trump: 19.6%
Percent increase under Obama: 33.6%
Granted, Obama took over an economy that was crashing, thanks to the gravitational pull of Planet Derp, so there was a lot of room for improvement — but improvement is exactly what he gave us, despite being handed a colossal turd by the leading lights of the GOP.
Meanwhile, all we’ve asked Trump to do is hold the rudder steady and steer the ship past the rocks, and he can’t even do that.
This should be no surprise. Despite Republicans’ boasts to the contrary, the stock market generally performs better under Democratic presidents than it does under Republicans — and it’s not close. Since 1945, the average annual gain in the S&P 500 under Democrats has been 9.7%, and under Republicans it’s been 6.7%.
Democrats also tend to outperform Republicans with regard to broader (and more important) economic measures, including job creation, GDP growth, unemployment, and annual deficit spending.
Which raises a key question: Why on earth would anyone ever vote for a Republican president, much less one who wants to be a tyrant?
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