| Unleash Prosperity Hotline Issue #278 05/05/2021 |
| 1) Economically, We’re Kicking Europe’s Butt We were struck by this headline from the NY Times a few days ago:  Since June, the U.S. economy has expanded by well over 35%, while Europe’s GDP has grown only 11%. In the first quarter of this year growth in Europe was an anemic -0.6% versus +6.4% in the U.S. Euroland has recorded two straight negative quarters and is officially in a dreaded double-dip recession. Meanwhile, as Laffer Associates points out, Europe’s unemployment rate is 8.2% compared to 6.2% here in the U.S.A.  Why is the U.S. doing so much better? First, half of the country, the red states of America, minimally closed down and only for a short period. Florida, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolinas, and mountain states, avoided mass lockdowns and shunned mandated-business closures. They’ve had swift recoveries with unemployment less than 5% in many red states. Many of the European nations are STILL closed down. Second, Europe has bungled the vaccinations. Third, some European countries stupidly raised taxes – i.e., Germany with their January VAT tax hike from 16% to 19% – which punched an already wobbly economy in the jaw. Alas, the NY Times had the headline right, but got the story mostly wrong. They acknowledged the value of Trump’s Operation Warp Speed and the swift vaccine roll out, but their takeaway “lesson” of the U.S. rapid comeback is “it pays to unleash enormous amounts of public money in the face of a livelihood-destroying health crisis.” No. It pays to keep your economy functional and open for business so livelihoods aren’t destroyed in the first place. |
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