Further, in the table showing returns under Democrat regimes, three of the periods are anomalous: the four years after World War II and the first two years under Barack Obama. Recall that the Dow Jones Industrial Average did not exceed its 1929 peak until 1954; counting four years prior to this and right after the war are arguably a continuation of the end of a dismal period of stock market performance.
With respect to Obama, equity markets had collapsed right before he took office; there would probably have been a rebound regardless of who was in control.
Excluding those six years, the average is right around 10%.
Gordon Gould, Boulder, Colo.
Tamp It Down
To the Editor:
I’m less enthusiastic than Matthew C. Klein (“Why the Postpandemic Future Could Be Bright: Productivity Gains Could Be Here to Stay,” The Economy, Jan. 8). Productivity growth also soared during and immediately following the recession of 2008-09, only to fall back to anemic growth starting in 2011.
The secular forces in place prior to the pandemic did not go away, such as rising inequality and weak investment demand relative to saving. Business profits were also high before the pandemic, yet business investment remained low despite negative real interest rates. Anyway, productivity gains have flowed and continue to flow to the bottom lines of business at the expense of workers, worsening inequality. Finally, the trends in increased online shopping and working from home were in place prior to the pandemic, which accelerated them only in the short term.
Douglas Rife, on Barrons.com
Heading for the Hills
To the Editor:
The continuous printing of “free money” is the driving force behind the rising stock market (“This Is What’s Driving Stocks to Records as the Nation Reels,” Up & Down Wall Street, Jan. 8). The military/industrial/pharmaceutical complex, now enhanced by efficient, technology-driven control, is Big Brother incarnate. Small business is being crushed. Inflation is running rampant and yet is miserably underreported. In the meantime, all of this is fiat-driven, as U.S. debt increases at over $3 million a minute. The never-ending, K-shape “recovery” will not lead to a pretty outcome in any imagined scenario. No wonder people are literally running for the hills.
Brent Haleen, on Barrons.com
To the Editor:
Randall W. Forsyth’s opening paragraph is readership incitement using journalistic license. President Trump is not guilty of mob incitement but of intemperate and extreme free speech. He can be politically excoriated and thrown to the dogs, as Forsyth’s article illustrates, but he is not guilty of incitement to riot. In a more perfect world, I would like to see greater sober analysis and less appeal to public emotion, which is quite high enough as it is.
Irvin E. Evans, Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Rational Thinking
To the Editor:
Regarding “What the…
Read More: Letters to the Editor of Barron’s