The same economists and pundits who promised us that Donald Trump's economic policies would crater the American economy are now performing Olympic-level mental gymnastics to explain why booming job numbers, record stock markets, and expanding manufacturing somehow don't count. The receipts are in, the scoreboard is lit, and the "experts" are 0-for-everything.
But sure, tell us again how we're headed for stagflation. We'll wait.
Columnist Stephen Moore laid it all out in Patriot Post this week, and the numbers are savage. The economy added over 265,000 jobs in the latest report — with upward revisions to prior months — against a backdrop of 4.7% unemployment. Manufacturing just posted its fourth straight month of expansion, according to the Institute for Supply Management, marking the best manufacturing numbers in four years. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are all at or near record highs.
America is building again. Plants, factories, roads, data centers — a full-blown construction boom that you can see from space. As Moore put it, "America is MAKING things again."
Now let's talk about the people who said none of this would happen.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman — the same guy who's been wrong about Trump's economy since 2016 — warned that "any statement that things aren't as bad as they were in the 1970s should come with the caveat 'so far.'" He called for Congress to repeal Trump's agenda and demanded a "de-MAGA-fication" of the economy. The Center for American Progress declared that "the Trump administration's agenda has generated stagflation: slower growth and faster inflation."
Stagflation. They actually said stagflation. With 265,000 new jobs and record stock markets.
These are the same people we're supposed to trust with economic policy? Krugman has been predicting a Trump-induced recession since the man came down the escalator. At some point, being wrong every single time should disqualify you from the conversation. But this is the American media, where being spectacularly wrong about Republicans is a career accelerator.
Moore breaks down the three pillars driving this economy: tax cuts saving the average family roughly $2,000, deregulation delivering approximately $1 trillion in business cost savings, and domestic energy production keeping gas prices about $1 per gallon lower than they'd be without it. During Trump's first term, real family income rose by $6,000. This term, median household income is already up another $3,000.
Those aren't vibes. Those are dollars in people's pockets.
The manufacturing revival alone should have the critics eating crow. We were told for years that those jobs were gone forever — that America's future was "services" and "the knowledge economy" and whatever else they say at Davos. Instead, companies are building factories on American soil, hiring American workers, and expanding production. Moore calls it what it is: "America is once again the world's alpha male economy."
Are things perfect? No. Tariff policies have bumped some prices. But the broader picture is undeniable — rising business investment and productivity gains are expected to push prices down further. And the U.S. is flat-out outperforming China, which is something nobody on CNN wants to discuss.
As America approaches its 250th birthday, the economy is doing exactly what Trump promised it would. The critics had their predictions. Reality had other plans. And the scoreboard doesn't lie — even if Paul Krugman wishes it would.