the early Trump economy was the good economy he left Trump. It was then stimulated by an unsustainable tax cut. (It did stimulate the economy, but nowhere near as much as spending or tax cuts/tax credits to the middle class and below.) However, the budget cuts because of the rising deficit (utterly predicable when you have a major tax cut) started to have a negative impact before COVID hit.

The second set of statistics I wish were better known is one I don't know - the estimated number of illegal immigrants in the US by year. I tried to find a good source for numbers on this but failed. The reason I was looking is that most questions have said things like the rate quadrupled from the last year of the Trump administration. Of course this happened - during COVID, the economy collapsed. I would bet many immigrants here returned home and fewer came.

That's the real problem. Things were humming along just fine, but the conservative economic powers that be just can't let a Republican administration go without extracting more money from the American worker. Which in effect is what large tax cuts for the top ten % does.

Trumpy's tax cut was like adding fuel to a perfectly well running machine that needed nothing to keep doing what it was doing. Of course the result was the massive stock buybacks and upper management bonuses we saw and pretty much bugger all for the average wage earner.

Even then, the store employees, facing angry questions from shoppers, were reciting a script about 'supply chain problems'. Another geezer looked at me, we both nodded and he said: "Manufactured crisis to justify price gouging."

That was BEFORE the pandemic and the immediate 'stay in place' orders here in AZ.

the media all know that but refuse to report it. Damn liberal media.