President Donald Trump did more to help the economy in his volatile first week than President Barack Obama did in his entire eight-year reign, Newsmax Finance Insider and economist Stephen Moore told Newsmax TV.
He spoke just hours after the U.S. announced that the economy lost momentum in the final three months of 2016, closing out a year in which growth turned in the weakest performance in five years.
“This has been such an abysmal record under Obama and what an embarrassing number for Obama to have for his last quarter in office,” he told "America Talks Live!" with Steve Malzberg on Friday.
The gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.9 percent in the October-December period, a slowdown from 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. GDP, the broadest measure of economic health, was held back by a jump in the trade deficit. For 2016, the economy grew 1.6 percent. It was the worst showing since 2011 and down from 2.6 percent growth in 2015.
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“By the way you can't blame this one on Trump, right? He wasn't president when this happened,” said Moore, who regularly blogs as a Newsmax Finance Insider.
For sure, “1.9 percent growth is a continuation of what we've had now for seven years. It's just a very, very weak recovery. It's been a long recovery but it's been incredibly weak," he said.
"We've seen no job growth, we've got 90 million people outside the workforce, we have created jobs, we're not creating good jobs," he said.
But after a week of Trump's tidal wave of meetings, action and executive orders, Moore is convinced the nation truly is on the road to becoming great once again.
"As I've seen just what's happened in this past week I am so excited. I'm so bullish right now," he exclaimed.
"I mean it's incredible just the things that have happened in the last 72 hours. My goodness he's done more for the economy in his first week in office than Barack Obama did in eight years.”
To be sure, Trump has set a goal of doubling growth through an ambitious stimulus program featuring tax cuts, deregulation and higher infrastructure spending.
As his first week in office proves, Trump will be a demanding leader who applies the best of his negotiating skills to push for U.S. growth, as bestselling author David Horowitz recently predicted to TheStreet.com.
Trump won’t be an ideological purist like Republicans who support free trade but don't fight for fair trade, Horowitz said.
“We've had an anti-business president now for eight years who doesn't take a hard-nosed attitude towards these deals. Trump is going to get better deals for us, which is still free trade.”
Horowitz's new book, "The Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan to Save America," reveals Trump's "first 100 days strategy" to roll back Obama's legislative and executive record.
Horowitz's book is the first book about the Trump presidency and has soared to the top of the Amazon bestseller charts, becoming the No.1-selling book on the web.
Trump will also lead the way in making infrastructure spending to boost the U.S. economy, Horowitz said.
"Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan to Save America" is available at bookstores everywhere – or get your copy on Amazon – Click Here Now
“If the economy grows as it will under Trump, there's going to be a lot more money to spend,” he said.
Stephen Moore is a distinguished visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation, economics contributor to FreedomWorks and author of "Who's the Fairest of Them All?" To find out more about Stephen Moore and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page atwww.creators.com.
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