Commentary: WASHINGTON – A new report by the Democratic staff of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, produced at the request of Ranking Member-Designate Martin Heinrich (D-NM), outlines specific areas of the U.S. economic recovery under President Obama that are threatened by the stated policies and cabinet appointees of the incoming Trump administration.
The new report, Risks Posed by Trump Administration to Economic Progress Made by Obama Administration - An Initial Response to the Economic Report of The President, analyzes the specific threat that President-elect Trump’s policies pose in six areas: recovery and reinvestment, reducing income inequality, reforming the health care system, higher education investment, regulating the financial system and climate change. It also outlines the criteria by which the economic success or failure of the Trump administration should be judged.
“Too many people in Washington, D.C. think that if the stock market is going up, the economy is in good shape,” Sen. Heinrich said. “But that's not the reality for working families. The way we should measure the success of the economy during the Trump administration is if wages go up, parents can afford to send their kids to college, entrepreneurs can start new businesses, fewer jobs are being outsourced and workers are able to retire with peace of mind.”
The report states, “Over his eight years in office, President Obama has led an economy that has gone from crisis to recovery and steady growth. Businesses have added nearly 16 million jobs since early 2010, the unemployment rate has been cut more than in half from its peak and wages are growing faster than they have in years…The Trump administration could put these and many other accomplishments at risk…Rather than enacting polices that foster economic security for middle-class Americans, all signs suggest that his administration will return to the trickle-down economic policies that in the past have failed to boost growth or help working families, while opening the door to the sort of recklessness on Wall Street that devastated Main Street eight years ago.”
The report concludes, “To evaluate the success of the Trump administration, it will be important to track the economic and other indicators the President-elect himself has highlighted as his top priorities. It will be critical to hold the new administration accountable to its promises – to document how they are meeting or falling short of their claims… The President-elect’s promises are bold. The efforts to match those promises to the actual record must be rigorous.”
The full report can be read here.