Trump inherited a robust economy and kept it going by stealing from future generations ( mushrooming fiscal deficit, rolling back environmental regulations ). And then blew it with his pathetic handling of the pandemic, giving the US the steepest decline in GDP amongst developed nations ( let's not even talk about deaths ).
We will see what happens to the Middle East when Iran has the bomb, all thanks to his Iran "policy".
Didn't know appointing people of your party to the Supreme Court could be called a policy.
First Step Act is just a rehash of a similar one introduced by the Democrats in 2015 but dragged down by the Republicans. In any case, Trump only signed it.
Yes, it's only his personality.

Statistics please?

There aren't any because it's not true.

Government debt was already way out of control before Donald Trump took power, and guess what, Joe Biden won't do anything about it either. Same goes for inflation.

My comment never went into what a good president Biden is or is not going to be, because the fact is, he is not even President yet and I do not have a crystal ball.

But clearly some people do believe that traits such as honesty and empathy and a non-delusional understanding of reality are unnecessary for someone to be a decent leader.

SP500 is up 12% this year. Vastly outperforming Europe, as usual.

cough cough.

Here you go, sad I even have to show it:

https://fortune.com/2020/05/28/us-un...ms-job-losses/

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...ce-the-summer/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_stock_market_crash

"The crash was the fastest fall in global stock markets in financial history and the most devastating crash since the Wall Street Crash of 1929."

It really wasn't. It took 5 years for stocks to recover after 2008. A couple of months in 2020. MSCI World is up c. 11% YTD. It was down 40% in 2008.

And you think it would not have crashed if sleepy Joe was president?

What crash is she talking about ? All my assets have tripled since last December. Which universe does she occupy?
I am having the best investment year ever. Indexes are record high. WTF?

I picked the wrong stocks = this was the biggest market crash in history

I have a mate with a degree in intersectionaility studies who can't find a job = we are facing historically unprecedented levels of unemployment.

People were NOT predicting he'd be the next Hitler but some did compare certain personalities traits such as narcissim and the use of propaganda, which was a fair.

This debate is ridiculous. I have a big dislike for Donald Trump, but i can't say he has been a catastrophe for the US economy, nor can anyone seriously say he has been a blessing. Anyone else would have done a little bit worse or a little better...impossible to say given the market volatility due to the pandemic (and by market I don't mean only stock market).

The US is a big economy with a tremendous innertia, so a single-term (actually not even a two-term) presidency can hardly mark a huge short-term difference in a trend that dates back 20 years:



If we want to have a serious discussion about economy we should first look at the bigger picture, instead of arguing anecdotal, single-point economy factoids. Starting by the overall federal spending vs revenues:



If you don't have a good grasp on the topic, whatever you state so matter-of-factly only accentuates your lack of in-depth knowledge.

The US has had a healthy and rather inflation for a very long time:



2% is a very sweet spot for inflation and an indicator of a rather healthy economy where people simply buy what businesses produce at a stable rate.

My personal take-away from the last 4 years in terms of economy is: Trump's presidency was fairly stable and slightly positive for business, good for employment in general, good for consumption/spending, with perhaps a little too much of a bumpy ride thanks to Trump's stupidity spurring a trade war with China and most US allies, affecting steel prices. What it hasn't been is for US foreign trade (which was a big chunk of his message):



I think debating Trump's economy is a useless exercise, lacking big highlights, good or bad.

__________________
The internet makes it easy to be a jerk and forget the person we're talking to is a human. It also makes us see messages from awful people and assume they come from normal peers.

What is going to be interesting is what he does about the covid debacle.

People here are saying Trump is responsible for the 300,000 deaths, and Biden would have managed it better, well now he's got a chance to do so.
Looks like the vaccines will take @12 months to have any impact due to restrictions and resource, so ample opportunity to shine.

Nothing will shine until people realize that the safest for them is to adopt safe habits and measures themselves.

The chance to really "manage it better" was when it all started and all Biden can do now is minimise the damage caused by Trumps incompetence by following the science.

Trump continues to blow off opportunities to manage it better. Yay vaccine, but otherwise not a peep from the President. Yeah, it‘s a biological process, but encouraging mitigating behaviors, pushing for relief measures for citizens would help. No f‘ing leadership.

Oh yeah....yay stock market, but people don‘t care so much if they have no food, no jobs, at risk of eviction. But good for you if your investment portfolio did well.

So somebody said I don‘t understand a pandemic. Well, I do. I know there is a lot that can‘t be done....but there were so many opportunities for leadership, modeling behavior, etc. And it‘s not coming from the current president. Still think he‘s a role model, some of you?

So yeah, I think Biden will do a better job.

It's interesting that countries like France, Italy and Spain have a similar impact of Covid as the US - but nobody seems to hold these countries' leaders responsible. You can blame him for his denial but that doesn't need to make him responsible.

As for Biden, I don't think he can do much: damage is done already and the vaccine is there.

Not quite the case. Spain and France have 30% less cases per capita, Italy has 40% less cases per capita. On the other hand, the US has done far more tests per capita, so this may be basing the assumptions (official numbers, so it's what's available) on figures which don't reflect reality accurately.

I was looking at deathss, as that's the most relevant statistic.