I'm by no means an economics expert. So don't expect me to give you a critical analysis of the current jobs market or the growth of any industry.
I'm just an avid reader, like many of you. I can look at the news and the stories and generally make accurate assumptions about our country and the direction in which we are headed.
Job creation is something that seems to be this mystical entity, a litmus test for how well our country is doing, as well as an indicator of the effectiveness of our leadership. Clearly, if there are more jobs- from diverse sectors of industry- then more people are working and earning a living, which in turn helps other businesses that thrive on Americans spending their cash.
A myriad of factors can contribute to how well our job market is doing. But often it falls to the President of the United States, as so many things usually do. If there are fewer jobs and unemployment is on the rise, he is blamed. Even though our free market is a sprawling organism, with many tentacles spread out across the country and world, the few things the POTUS can do to help are magnified.
It's partly true. The President can push for policies that can have wide-reaching ramifications on our economy. He can spearhead a reduction in taxes, which helps business owners as well as employees. If you have more money, then surely you'll spend more. The President can work to craft favorable trade deals, which might bring more opportunities into our country. He can also manage social programs well, in order to help people out of work make ends meet while searching for new employment.
There are many factors that determine whether or not jobs are thriving in this country, but our media will often determine a President's success on the basis of this all important issue.
That being said, let's look at President Obama's impact on the jobs market. Many claim that Obama helped the economy. It's easy to make that conclusion; in 2008 we were in a tailspin thanks to the collapse of the housing market and predatory tactics among banks trading toxic assets. Things were looking very bad for a while.
While I maintain the economy righted itself, it happened after Obama was elected. But did his policies make the difference?
In 2009 Obama passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Its goal was to help kick start our economy after the recession. Most of you probably know little about this law, because it didn't affect you in the slightest. While it was supposed to help our nation recover, it didn't do so by helping private businesses grow through lowered taxes or federal aid. Instead, it dumped $831 billion into the hands of government agencies.
Instead of using this money to create jobs and help our economy, those agencies wasted it. In less than four years they would face a budget crisis that shut down the government. Shouldn't $831 billion be enough to run the government for a few years? Apparently not.
Obama's plan for helping job creation was extending welfare benefits and crafting a healthcare plan that only served to raise taxes and frustrate American workers. The Affordable Healthcare Act punishes people who can't afford health insurance with a penalty, punishes health insurance companies by forcing them to provide insurance for people who haven't paid into it, and makes it difficult for small businesses to thrive. All of this contributes to a shrinking jobs market. With losses due to rising taxes and healthcare expenses, companies need to make cuts. That comes in the form of staff.
But maybe you don't believe me. Here some more facts for ya:
The federal debt has doubled from $9.99 trillion at the end of FY 2008 (September 30, 2008) to $19.95 trillion at the end of FY 2016 (September 30, 2016)...
President Obama has overseen the worst economic growth of any President since Herbert Hoover. He’s the only President since Hoover who has not had a single year that saw an annual growth of GDP...
While the number of employed increased by 9.8 million and the number of unemployed decreased by 3.8 million, the number of Americans not in the labor force increased by 13.5 million while the civilian non-institutional population increased by 19.8 million. (via Breitbart)
The mantra that the left keeps repeating about Obama lowering unemployment is a distortion of the facts. Population increased while the labor force decreased. More people dropped out of the job market simply because they gave up, not because they found better jobs. Obama and liberals are skewing the numbers to make themselves look good.
So what's the solution? Clearly, liberal policies do not create jobs. They're experts at creating big government that spends taxpayer dollars. But when it comes to setting policy that encourages growth in the private sector, they are out of their league. That's not to mention suspicious trade deals like Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which clearly benefited other nations. I mean, it's like the left was bribed into supporting this toxic, secretive agreement.
Since Donald Trump won the White House, we hear about company after company that is either creating new jobs or moving factories back into America. Since the 90's we've seen the opposite happen. So many jobs have been shipped overseas, it's become a common joke. To my generation, the idea of American workers making the bulk of our products is a fantasy. Yet perhaps in the coming future that will change.
You may not think it has anything to do with Trump's win, but coincidences don't happen this frequently.
CNN Money made no bones about crediting the incredible post-election surge in the stock market to a “Trump rally,” as Wall Street hit the rare “superfecta”: all four major indexes closing at record highs on the same day...
Instead of focusing on fears that Trump could start a trade war, investors are hoping the president-elect will unleash the U.S. economy by cutting taxes, rolling back regulation and ramping up infrastructure spending.
“The basis for the rally is optimism about reversing Obama-nomics — raising taxes and increasing regulation,” said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. (via Breitbart)
It all starts with the Stock Market. When investors feel good about the future, they invest in companies. Those companies have a strong injection of capital to take risks, expand their businesses, and yes, hire more staff.
Then there are those companies bringing jobs back to America.
The president-elect of the United States has secured a deal to keep 1,000 Carrier Corporation jobs in America two months before he takes office.
“President-elect Donald Trump and Carrier have reached a deal that will keep nearly 1,000 factory jobs in Indiana, the company said on Tuesday,” Indianapolis Fox 59 local news station reported. (via Breitbart)
The highly publicized slashing of jobs by Carrier happened just as Donald Trump announced his platform on bringing back jobs to America. It certainly helped reinforce his plan to protect American workers and end the outsourcing of our manufacturing. With his win, it's no surprise that the first company to announce the saving of jobs would be them.
Ford is canceling plans to build a new plant in Mexico. It will invest $700 million in Michigan instead, creating 700 new U.S. jobs.
Ford (F) CEO Mark Fields said the investment is a "vote of confidence" in the pro-business environment being created by Donald Trump. However, he stressed Ford did not do any sort of special deal with the president-elect.
"We didn't cut a deal with Trump. We did it for our business," Fields told CNN's Poppy Harlow in an exclusive interview Tuesday. (via CNN)
Ford was a particular target for Trump. Even in his announcement speech, he criticized the company for their plans to open a plant in Mexico. Trump made it clear that companies that moved jobs into Mexico, depriving Americans of work, would be punished with a tariff. Trump won the election, and now Ford is making a reversal.
There have been other stories about bright opportunities in America. Like Tesla's plan to build a plant in Buffalo for the manufacturing of solar cells. Fiat Chrysler announced plans to expand their plants, creating at least 2000 new jobs. Just today retail juggernaut Amazon announced plans to create 100,000 new, full-time, full-benefit jobs across the U.S. over the next 18 months.
Was it all because of Trump? You might not think so, you skeptical person, you. But a Presidential Election has a ripple effect across the entire world. Companies watch very closely the plans a candidate makes, should they win the election. They know, or expect with certain confidence, what the climate will be like under a President's leadership. With Trump's intentions of putting American workers first- with plans to lower taxes and renegotiate trade deals- we are looking at a very healthy climate for jobs in this country.
But the left will continue to attack the man because he's a Republican. That's okay. A rising tide lifts all ships. If Trump is successful in every area he promised- from reforming healthcare to fixing inner city education- then even his detractors will benefit from his leadership, regardless of their bickering.
In the end, that's all that matters.
