Unexpected Economics 101

Those of you who know me from my early days in the agency world, know I was often angry. Sometimes unreasonably so, but more often than not it was justified. And more often than not, it boiled down to other people simply not doing their jobs.

I can't tell you how many times I was given a new brief or a new business pitch without the necessary accompanying information. One time my request for additional info was met with a reprint of a Wiki page.

(insert image of a younger me with steam exiting my ears in pressure cooker fashion)

As such, I have become my own investigative reporter. Not to sound immodest, but I can be pretty resourceful. And very good at research.

These days I apply those skills to the takedown of our current fascist regime. I am convinced the best way to fight the ignorance, the truth twisting and the evil propaganda coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and then regurgitated online, is to present the facts.

And so today with your permission, and with minimal editorializing, we embark on what could be a lengthy treatise on our current economy, which by the way is not the "bestest in all of history."

Let's begin where all discussions on national economy begin...

GDP. When Captain Ouchie Foot was campaigning he proposed to unleash our economy. Promising, among other things, that we would see GDP growth of 3, 4, 5 and possibly 6%. He lied. During his presidency the highest GDP he has attained in 2.9%. By the way, GDP growth in 2015, when the smart black guy was president, was also 2.9%.

The prospects for 2019 are even less rosy. Last quarter, GDP growth was 1.9%. That means the economy is in "deep trouble." Don't take my word for it.

So GDP growth for this year is Q1 - 3.1%, Q2 - 2.0% and Q3 - 1.9%. For us to hit the magical 6%, often promised by our Dear Leader, fourth quarter GDP would have to hit to 16%. That's highly unlikely as this president's quarterly growth has never even hit anywhere near above 4%. But guess who has? Twice.

DEBT. I don't know how you do it in your household, but I, coming from a family of many, many CPAs, gauge my economic wellbeing by measuring my assets verse my debts. I don't like debt and do everything I can to reduce it. That used to be the keystone of the GOP. You'll recall the Tea Party and fiscal fuckknuckle, Paul Ryan. Well, while stumping on the campaign trail, Precedent Shitgibbon often complained about our debt and railed against President Obama for adding to it. He bitched and moaned when our US debt was $19 trillion.

Oh the glorious carefree, halcyon days of just $19 trillion of debt. Take a look at where we are at today.

DEFICIT. People often get confused by the terms debt and deficit and by the term people, I include myself. The US debt is our accumulated debt, what we owe. The deficit is a yearly term, meaning what we've racked up this year. Think of it as New Charges on your credit card bill.

Our current deficit is over a trillion dollars. It was over a trillion dollars last year as well. And it's projected by be over a trillion dollars for the remainder of the Shitgibbon administration. The funny thing is, I remember the president and his Treasury Secretary, sloppy-jawed Steve Mnuchin saying the tax cuts would pay for themselves. When does that kick in?

MANUFACTURING. Our economy is service based. That's not what people in manufacturing want to hear but the truth is big companies -- beholden to shareholders -- have to show profits so they have exported manufacturing responsibilities to countries where labor is cheap and unregulated. That didn't stop Grandpa Ramblemouth from promising to "bring manufacturing back."

Guess what, he hasn't. In fact, according to the Federal Reserve, we are in a "manufacturing recession." 

You'd never know that from listening to him speak at his rallies. Where, apparently, receiving a free red golf cap, makes one impenetrable to truth and facts. Indeed at many of the rallies he often speaks about the 6, sometimes it's 7 (because why not) new plants that have been opened by that icon of American manufacturing, US Steel.

Here's where all those new plants are located...

I've already worn out my welcome and haven't even touched upon our seriously bloated defense budget,  the subsidies we now hand out to farmers because of an ill thought out trade war, and the soaring wage inequality that brings us closer and closer to the age of torches and pitchforks.

Also, I'm more than willing to acknowledge the low unemployment rate. But when Obama left office the rate had dropped more than 5 percentage points from 9.8 to 4.7, also historically low. It's now at 3.6. So during this, the best economy ever enjoyed by homo sapiens, the president has lowered the unemployment rate about 1%.

The stock market  is doing well and hovers near its all-time high. However, again, when Obama left office the market had nearly tripled -- from 7,000 to 20,000 -- and was also at an all-time high. I don't recall hearing the Red Hat Brigade cheering for that.

Keep in mind, this is just a primer. I'm far too ignorant to discuss the US economy in depth, you know, just like the president.

But here's what I do know and can speak on with unassailable credentials. I've worked in advertising all my life and know, far too well, the practice of managing up, self promotion and weaselly unsubstantiated promises. So when Captain Ouchie Foot boasts that we are currently enjoying the bestiest economic boom ever in the recorded history of man and woman on this planet, that's nothing but pure, unadulterated, KFC-Fueled, Merkin-Wearing, Presidential-Grade BULLSHIT.

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Note: all the data and numbers are sourced from BLS and BEA and are easily verifiable.