More Americans say the economy is in good shape than at any point since 2001. Yet President Donald #Trump's approval rating has remained steady over the last two years. An average of all polls shows his approval rating among voters is currently 43%. A year ago, it was 42%. Two years ago, it was was 45%. Other data points from throughout Trump's and past administrations suggest the President cannot count on the economy to help his sagging ratings.

Perhaps the biggest reason to be suspect of the idea that the economy will help Trump is that it hasn't so far. We've had low unemployment and strong economic growth throughout the #Trumpadministration and yet his approval rating has averaged just 42% since he took office. Further, the economy may weaken going forward. The #FederalReserve is cutting its forecast for economic expansion in the coming year. That means Trump may have to count on the same economy or perhaps even a weaker one going forward to bring up his approval ratings up.


#WorldEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicPolicy #MonetaryPolicy #EconomicForecast #EconomicSlowdown #AmericanEconomy #UnitedStates #PresidentialElection2020
Why Trump shouldn't count on the economy to lift him in 2020
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/22/politics/donald-trump-economy-2020-analysis/index.html

The $1.5tn tax reform initiated by U.S. President Donald #Trump in 2017 has boosted the #Americaneconomy, but the positive effect of lower corporate and individual taxes can only last so long. The #USeconomy has been a bright spot among #advancedeconomies over the past year, partly thanks to higher corporate investment that followed Trump’s #taxcuts. But such an effect will only last for another 2 years at the maximum, said Edmund Phelps, a professor at Columbia University.


#WorldEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicPolicy #EconomicForecast #UnitedStates #Economy #TrumpAdministration
Trump’s tax cuts will boost the US economy for two more years at most, says Nobel Prize winner
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/24/trump-tax-cuts-to-help-economy-for-two-more-years-tops-edmund-phelps.html

#FederalReserve policymakers see a #USeconomy that is rapidly losing momentum. They predict inflation will miss their 2% target for yet another year, despite rising wages, and they expect unemployment to increase. #JeromePowell’s upbeat assessment of a deteriorating economy shows how completely the #Fed has embraced a world of stubbornly weak inflation, permanently slower growth and chronically low #interestrates that give the central bank precious little room for conventional policy easing when the next downturn arrives.

It is a situation that poses risks to the Fed’s credibility, given the long-running failure to lift inflation to a target first specified in 2012 in hopes of guiding the economy upward. It also raises the stakes over an evolving debate about the need for fiscal, social and other policies that may be targeted to pick up the slack.


#WorldEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicPolicy #MonetaryPolicy #EconomicForecast #EconomicSlowdown #AmericanEconomy #UnitedStates #Economy
Beneath Fed's positive spin, an embrace of a tepid future
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-newnormal-analysis/beneath-feds-positive-spin-an-embrace-of-a-tepid-future-idUSKCN1R21XH

#Malaysia and #Indonesia, which account for a combined 85% of the global #palmoil supply, have warned that millions of farmers risk losing their livelihoods if the #EuropeanUnion stops using the commodity in its #biofuels. The EU’s proposed move comes following a push by the European Parliament to phase out the use of palm oil starting in 2023, ramping up to a ban in 2030, on concerns palm oil production causes deforestation and aggravates climate change.

Additionally, Malaysia and Indonesia plan to take the issue to the WTO. Indonesia called the proposed #EU ban on palm oil a 'double standard' that would kill the livelihoods of millions. This move is a double standard, a pure discrimination. The EU accepts #soybeans, which use 10 times more land than palm oil to cultivate, according to Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan.


#WorldEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicPolicy #AsianEconomies #SouthEastAsia #ASEAN #Economy #AgriculturalCommodities #Politics #Europe #SoftCommodities #Commodities #Agriculture #Agribusinesses
Malaysia and Indonesia threaten boycott of EU products, say millions of farmers risk losing livelihoods due to palm oil curbs
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3002737/malaysia-and-indonesia-threaten-boycott-eu-products-say

Going to the polls for the first time since the #military took power in a coup in 2014, Thais were given the choice between pro-regime parties, who supported the continuation of junta rule through the ballot box, and pro- #democracy parties that were fundamentally opposed to the military and wanted to radically change the direction of the country. Yet, by Sunday night (Mar 24), the results were so close that the election commission cancelled the expected official announcement of the outcome until the morning.

Preliminary results, with 93% of the votes counted, showed a narrow win for the pro-democracy #PheuThai, with an estimated 129 seats, compared with 117 seats for the pro-military #PhalangPracharat. It means that neither party achieved the 250 seats needed to form a majority government in their own right and is therefore likely to lead to a scramble on both sides to form a large enough coalition with other smaller parties. However, the result was far better for the military than most had predicted and a blow to those who hoped this election would bring in a new era for Thai politics.


#WorldEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicPolicy #AsianEconomies #SouthEastAsia #ASEAN #Economy #Politics #Thailand
Pro-military party may edge Thailand election in blow to hopes of new era
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/24/thai-election-split-pheu-thai-opposition-and-pro-junta-phalang-pracharat