Friday, March 29, 2024

This Week in Economics: 4 Stories You Should Know About

1.) The Incredible Stock Market Run Continues

Today, US stockholders should raise their glasses to toast the longest bull run in American history. USA Today reports:

The long, upward rise in U.S. stock prices that began in March 2009 near the end of the Great Recession — a rally that survived countless scares and was doubted every step of the way by market skeptics — is about to surpass the famed surge from the 1990s as the longest-running bull in Wall Street history….The main drivers pushing share prices even higher, market experts say, are a U.S. economy powering along at its fastest clip since 2014, companies growing their profits at the best pace in eight years, and the nation’s jobless rate at an 18-year low.

Adding to the optimistic sentiment, MarketWatch says the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on the verge of bursting through its correction phase (the beginning of which coincided with the escalation of trade tensions with China) for the first time since February. Stocks are now up roughly 30 percent since President Trump’s inauguration, and a new report from Fidelity Investments shows the Trump rally is creating 401(k) millionaires left and right!

2.) George Will Predicts Economic Doomsday (Again)

Despite all of the good news coming in on Wall Street, #NeverTrump pundit George Will attempted to throw cold water on “the economic boom that nobody expected to happen.” On the off chance anyone still reads George Will’s columns, rest assured this goofy economic doomsday prepping is nothing new for him. As R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. previously noted for the Washington Times:

[Will denounced] President Reagan for his tax cuts while all the while accepting the president’s hospitality. He even denounced Jack Kemp, again, for tax cuts, the same kind of tax cuts that are energizing our economy today. Tax cuts and smaller government bring out the worst in Mr. Will.

George Will can worry all he wants — but no god has ordained that this rally has to stop. If Trump sticks to pro-growth policies, we are still in the early innings.

3.) Another Tax Cut Coming Soon?

Speaking of pro-growth policies, one source estimated that there is a “1-in-3 chance” that the Trump administration will index capital gains to inflation. While those odds aren’t fantastic, they are likely better than any other 2016-cycle candidate would have given us.

Predictably, the Left is already pushing a narrative that this amounts to “tax cuts for the rich” — even though it merely ensures that only real investment gains are taxed whenever one sells an asset, and not artificial gains from a devaluation of the dollar. Why should anybody be taxed for inflation (which, in itself, is a tax on investment)? Capital gains should only apply to actual gains.

4.) Apple Wins the Race to $1 Trillion

Last but not least… congratulations Apple! The tech giant just recently became the first company in the world to reach a trillion-dollar market cap. Apple is an incredible example of American ingenuity, entrepreneurship and innovation, and everyone should feel a sense of pride that an American business reached this gigantic milestone first.

If the economy keeps humming along, perhaps we’ll see a couple more additions to the trillion-dollar club before Trump leaves office.

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