Who is, or was, in a better position to help out small businesses, Ronald Reagan or Donald Trump?
Although many regard the “Great Communicator” as the president who instituted the best job-creating economy, while having his tactics dubbed “Reaganomics,” it seems that the the top job creator that has been in the White House actually goes to the current occupier.
In a report from CNBC, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index sprung to 108.8 in August, the highest level recorded in the National Federation of Independent Business survey’s 45-year history. The previous record was in 1983, with a reading of 108 during the second year of former President Reagan’s first term in office.
The August figure was up from a 107.9 reading in July. For the month of August as well, 201,000 jobs were created, with wages up 2.9 percent.
The NFIB says the reason for this skyrocketing small business optimism is a part of the Republican-led Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and a broader plan on the part of President Trump to deregulate the U.S. economy. The measures have led to record breaking numbers in nearly every single category of the economy, from jobless claims at a 50-year low, the unemployment rate at an 18-year low, spikes in consumer confidence, and bounding growth in the national economy, along with many others.
The NFIB also noted that capital spending plans have been the highest since 2007.
“Today’s groundbreaking numbers are demonstrative of what I’m hearing everyday from small business owners – that business is booming,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan. “As the tax and regulatory landscape changed, so did small business expectations and plans,” she added.
During the second financial quarter of 2018, the U.S. economy expanded by a rate of 4.2 percent, the fastest pace in nearly four years. The latest forecast from the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow model for the third financial quarter shows a growth of 3.8 percent.
