He sure inherited a disaster. At this point trump was just riding the Obama economy.
What specifically did Obama do for the economy?
Well lets just start with his namesake program, the Affordable Care Act, or what is commonly called Obamacare. You can access a full report here,
This report provides a five-year perspective on the impact the Affordable Care Act has had on the U.S. economy since the law's enactment. It discusses trends in economic growth, employment, and health care costs since 2010.
www.commonwealthfund.org
I will just touch on some high points, like this
To date, there is no evidence that the ACA has had a negative impact on economic growth or jobs or that its reforms have undermined full-time employment—effects that the law’s opponents had warned about. To the contrary, evidence indicates that the ACA has likely acted as an economic stimulus, in part by freeing up private and public resources for investment in jobs and production capacity.
When it was under debate it really seemed like a no-brainer. Those subsidies were government spending with a huge multiplier effect. Households could spend significantly less on health insurance premiums and the savings went to fund things like vacations, new cars, home remodeling, or even a dinner out once a week. But that was just the half of it. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people were released from the bonds of servitude that was employer sponsored group health insurance. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people finally had the security to leave their job and start their own business. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of women were able to quit their job that they worked only to provide health insurance for the self-employed spouse. They became stay at home Moms and their children benefited. Not to mention the decline in the labor supply actually lifted wages.
And then there was the doughnut hole. The ACA phased out the doughnut hole and it did it without spending government money. Nope, today when a senior reaches the doughnut hole he only pays 25% of the cost of both namebrand and generic drugs. Before the ACA he paid 100%. The difference, the drug manufacturers EAT IT. That is now millions and millions of dollars staying in the pockets of seniors and not going into the cash surplus of all them damn drug manufacturers. And you flippin righties want to talk about insulin.
Moreover, the law’s payment and other cost-related reforms appear to have contributed to the marked slowdown in health spending growth seen in recent years.
But that is the big one. It is the gift that keeps on giving. I can document it if you like, take a little google-fu. But the decrease in health care spending due to the ACA exceeds any GDP growth that Trump ever achieved. In other words, Obama, traveling the world, writing his book, and pretty much sitting on his ass, did more for the economy in Trump's four years than Trump ever did watching TV and tweeting.
www.breitbart.com
