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White House Insists Fundamentals of US Economy 'Very Strong'

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The "fundamentals" of the U.S. economy are solid, the
   White House asserted, invoking an ill-fated political declaration of a
   decade ago amid mounting concern that a recession could imperil
   President Donald Trump's reelection.

   Exhibiting no such concern, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway declared to
   reporters on Monday, "The fact is, the fundamentals of our economy are
   very strong."
   It's a phrase with a history. Republican John McCain was accused of
   being out of touch when he made a similar declaration during the 2008
   presidential campaign just hours before investment bank Lehman Brothers
   filed for bankruptcy, setting off a stock market crash and global
   financial decline.
   A case can be made for the White House position. The U.S. job market is
   setting records for low unemployment, and the economy has continued
   uninterrupted growth since Trump took office. But growth is slowing,
   stock markets have swung wildly in recent weeks on recession fears, and
   indicators in the housing and manufacturing sectors have given
   economists pause. A new survey Monday showed a big majority of
   economists expecting a downturn to hit by 2021 at the latest, according
   to a report from the National Association of Business Economics.
   Trump begs to disagree.
   "We're doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a
   tremendous tax cut and they're loaded up with money," Trump said on
   Sunday. "I don't think we're having a recession."

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