Recently a neighbor in Berrien County (Frank Small) who has been interviewed by Support the Center, posted the picture chart shown just below.
Frank was rewarded for his post with numerous positive comments. He claimed he had “proved” the obvious truth that Trump had created a great economy compared to the terrible economy he inherited from Obama.
I replied to his post by saying, “These ‘facts’ as a comparison of the economic track record of Obama versus Trump are so misleading as to not be truthful. If one has a concern for truth, then the entire record of Obama has to be posted.”
Frank countered my assertion by saying, “William Hurst sometimes it’s hard to see the forest except for trees”.
This blog is
- a refutation of the nature of Frank’s counter. Granted, Frank is a biased cheerleader, with advocacy as the goal,
- a critique of the exaggerations (not limited to Trump supporters) which riddle political Facebook posts, and finally,
- a reasoned examination and assessment of the Trump economy to date so we can assess where we stand, and think about future policy we want Trump and/or Congress to pursue.
I originally was going to reply to Frank within his post, on Facebook, but decided instead to put my reply on Support the Center, from which I will copy it to my Facebook page and then to Frank’s post, to get more exposure, and frankly, to maximize the value of this effort. I have noticed that folks who use Facebook as their main vehicle for political expression are often blessed by the ease with which misleading posts can be generated. Evidence is in short supply. I wish I could bring myself to reply with one misleading sentence!! In a country where group-think is so prevalent, having a conscience that requires more than a one sentence answer is, in one sense, a curse. But the extra effort below means this write-up must be utilized in multiple venues.
Taken On Their Own, Frank’s Comparative Facts Are Incomplete; We Need the Whole Picture
Frank’s assertion that “seeing the tree without the context of the forest” is false. A priori, regardless of circumstance, when doing economic analysis it is always better to know the full context within which specific data points fit. Trends are critical to seeing the whole picture. Exploring overall context is critical to assessing the economic performance of one President versus another.