Among the self-plaudits was a zinger about how, thanks to his "landslide" election victory and his energy policies, the US had avoided the "Green New Scam," what he called "perhaps the greatest hoax in history." Mixed in with stuff about credit card debt and making the US the crypto capital of the world, there was a reminder about how the president had personally ridden to the rescue of the American economy, so that it now knows "virtually no inflation and extraordinarily high economic growth."
He vowed to bring down the cost of groceries (an "old-fashioned" word with which he was obsessed), revive manufacturing, slash federal spending and inefficiency and distribute the savings to the citizenry, all while achieving energy dominance and the high-paying jobs that come with it. By early summer, however, it was becoming clear that Trump's economic policies were not having the promised effect.
The U.S. economy seems immune to the turbulence created by Donald Trump. The first year of his second term in the White House has been fraught with upheaval due to his eagerness to impose a headlong agenda with a marked protectionist approach. Businesses are now inoculated against the vertigo and the uncertainty surrounding the Republican president. Since winning the election against Democrat Kamala Harris exactly one year ago, he has changed the world trade order in one fell swoop;
The Trump administration warns of complete disaster for the U.S. economy if its reciprocal tariffs are struck down, showing great concern over an upcoming court ruling.
Researchers at Pantheon Macroeconomics found that AI-related spending accounted for a 0.5 percentage point difference in annualized GDP growth for the first half of the year.
World shares are generally higher after most stocks on Wall Street fell following a disappointing report that said inflation was worse last month at the U.S. wholesale level than economists had expected.
"U.S. producer prices surged 0.9% m/m in July, far exceeding expectations of 0.2% and marking the largest monthly gain since June 2022. On an annual basis, PPI rose 3.3%, up from 2.4% in June, while core PPI jumped to 3.7% from 2.6%. The data shattered forecasts across the board, underscoring the inflationary impact of recent tariff policy and justifying Fed caution regarding rate cuts," George Vessey of Convera told clients this morning.
"Descriptive evidence shows that goods categories heavily exposed to imports have indeed experienced sizable price increases since the beginning of this year, relative to their prior trends."
