How Trump's tax cuts and the trade war have set the stage for a self-inflicted recession
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/business/recession-trade-war-tax-cuts/index.html
New York (CNN Business)Cracks are beginning to form in the American economy, threatening to tip the country into recession. And at least some of those cracks are self-inflicted.
The biggest problem facing the United States economy is a slowdown that has struck China, Germany, South Korea and other manufacturing powerhouses.
President Donald Trump's escalating trade war with China has only amplified the pre-existing global growth slowdown. That overseas trouble has started to infect American factories, which are contracting for the first time in a decade.
"This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC, said of the ongoing trade war. "I am more concerned about the US economy now than I have been throughout this expansion."
The United States is also coming off the 2018 sugar high of Trump's tax cuts and the bipartisan surge in government spending. There was always a risk that stimulating an already-healthy economy would backfire by creating a boom-to-bust scenario.
"You aren't supposed to do stimulus until you're in a recession when you need it," said Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "We pulled demand forward before there was a recession, meaning we may in fact have caused the recession."
I'm curious to see how he blames this on Obama, or Nancy Pelosi. Hillary did it!
Seriously, as the stock market has hit all time highs, wise folks have trimmed their stocks and moved into bonds, cash, and other safer investments. Recession before the election should be the last straw for this president.