In a new Gallup poll, nearly two out of three Americans credit President Donald Trump for today’s strong economy. That’s far more than those who say President Barack Obama is responsible for the economy.
The Gallup poll results come on the heels of a testy exchange earlier this week between the former and current POTUS.
Former President Barack Obama tweeted a picture of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or the financial stimulus package enacted during the depths of the recent recession. The caption read:
@BarackObama:
Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history.
President Trump fired back:
@realDonaldTrump:
Did you hear the latest con job? President Obama is now trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration. He had the WEAKEST recovery since the Great Depression, despite Zero Fed Rate & MASSIVE quantitative easing. NOW, best jobs numbers….
Economists go back and forth on who deserves more credit, but the American people have an answer.
When Gallup asked Americans whether they give President Trump or President Obama credit for the economy, 37 percent gave Trump a great deal of credit compared to just 26 percent who gave Obama that much credit. On a fair amount of credit, both wracked up 25 percent.
Interestingly, more people said Obama deserves little credit (25 percent) or no credit at all (23 percent) compared to those who gave little or no credit to Trump (19 percent and 18 percent, respectively).
In addition, a big majority of Americans say they are better off today under President Trump than they were at the same time under President Obama. Some 61 percent say they are better off financially in 2020 compared to just 45 percent who said that back in 2012. Just a third of Americans say they are worse off under Trump than the over half who were worse off under Obama.
Obama claims that the Keynesian economic philosophy of more big government spending salvaged the economy.
President Trump contends that deregulation and the 2017 tax cuts that have spurred the economy forward.
This is more than just about bragging rights, but a philosophical debate on whether big government spending and control or the unfettered free-market system delivers better economic results.
When we consider that unemployment rates have not just fallen, which started while President Obama was still in office, but hit record lows and that segments of the workforce with stubbornly high unemployment such as minorities and low-wage workers are making the fastest job and wage gains now compared to four years ago, there is good reason to chaulk up more points on President Trump’s scoreboard than President Obama’s.
As we approach the 2020 presidential election cycle, the economic question of whether you are better off now financially will be on the minds of voters. They have three choices: continue the policies that have delivered the current economy, return to the past, or go in an entirely different direction.