The term "Golden Age" typically refers to a period of great cultural, economic and societal flourishing. In modern times, the term "Golden Age" has also been used to refer to periods of economic growth and prosperity, such as the post-World War II economic boom in the United States and Western Europe.

Today, many consider the age of President Trump as the Golden Age of peace and prosperity.

Many Economic & Leadership Records Were Broken During the Trump Presidency

1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) exceeded the 20,000, 25,000, and 30,000 levels for the first time in history under Trump's presidency.

2. The unemployment rate reached a 50-year low of 3.5% in December 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

3. The number of job openings reached a record high of 7.6 million 2018

4. According to CNBC, wages had record improvement. ^[i]The poverty rate fell to its lowest level since 1959, with 4.2 million Americans lifted out of poverty in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

5. The U.S. became a net exporter of oil and natural gas in 2019 for the first time in over 60 years, according to the Energy Information Administration.

6. The trade deficit with China decreased by $63 billion in 2019, the largest annual drop since 2008, according to the Census Bureau.

7. The GDP 2017-2019 in the United States was 2.5% compared to: European Union: 1.8%, Japan: 1.3%, United Kingdom: 1.6%, Canada: 2.2%, Australia: 2.6%

8. The Small Business Optimism Index hit its highest level in history. ^[ii]

9. The federal government collected a record amount of tax revenues under Trump and his new tax plan. ^[iii]

Economic Facts During the Trump Era

1. Unemployment rates: According to the Labor Dept., unemployment rates decreased from 4.7% in January 2017 to 3.5% in December 2019. Trump’s leadership achieved the best employment records and U-6 records. ^[iv]

2. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation: The CPI inflation rate was 2.1% in 2017, 2.4% in 2018, and 1.8% in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI Inflation was about 7% or a 300% worsening in 2021-2. ^[v]

3. Manufacturing activity: According to Forbes, Trump was the first president in decades to improve manufacturing jobs. ^[vi]

4. Housing starts: Housing starts were 1.22 million in January 2017 and 1.38 million in December 2019, according to the Census Bureau. Presently, under the democrats, there has begun a housing collapse in 2022-23. ^[vii]

5. Consumer confidence: The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index was 120.0 in January 2017 and 126.5 in December 2019 reaching all time record highs that have not been seen in generations. ^[viii]

6. During Trump’s Presidency of 4 years, many workers and retirees doubled their wealth. ^[ix] The S&P was up about 57% and the NASDAQ was up about 100% under Trump. ^[x] This means that most workers and investors with a moderately aggressive portfolio would have doubled their prosperity and wealth in the Golden Age of Trump’s 4 years.

7. Many have lost much of the gains during the Biden presidency. For example, if your widowed grandmother had 100,000 dollars when Trump was elected, and doubled it, she would have $200,000 dollars. But after Biden’s first 2 years, she would have lost 23% or $46,000 dollars.

8. During Obama’s years, the debt was Doubled over 100 percent from $10 trillion to $20 trillion dollars.

9. The Stock Market plunged in 2022 with the average person losing 23% of their savings and retirement money. ^[xi] Much of the 2021-22 stock market damage was due to ill conceived energy policy and war policies as experts predict another correction or crash. ^[xii]

Mortgage Rates & the Housing Collapse

1. 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.65% in January 2021, according to Freddie Mac.

2. The 30 year fixed rate today is 7.448% for a middle class family with a fair credit rating, which is a 181% percent crushing hike in costs to buy a home.

Credit Card Rates

3. The credit card APR interest rate was about 13.7% under Trump according to experts. The APR Rate in 2023 is over 23%. ^[xiii] This is roughly a 70% devastating increase hitting working families the hardest. These types of rates apply to many with poor credit ratings who purchased a vehicle.

Gasoline & Utilities Prices

Average gasoline price: $2.30 per gallon in January 2017, $2.24 per gallon in January 2019, and $2.40 per gallon in January 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration. After Trump left office, energy regulations where increased and gas prices went up to $5 dollars per gallon in most cases demoralizing the middle class and minorities in cities. ^[xiv] Again, this is roughly a 80 percent increase in pain on the consumer with utility bills going up 100% and bankrupting many families. ^{[xv] [xvi] [xvii]} In sum, the energy policies have not hurt the rich, but only punished working middle class families and the poorest Americans. Another 1.3 million families this year have demanded and received public assistance with paying energy bills and not having their utilities & heat cut off. ^[xviii]

Diesel Prices Up 100%

Diesel prices have also doubled after Trump left office. ^[xix] Because diesel is used to run tractors and farm equipment, people in inner cities (Mostly Democrats) are now stricken with food prices that are up %50-100 percent on items like eggs, meat, and other necessities. ^[xx] This diesel and food price skyrocketing has disheartened millions of Americans.

In summary, the Golden Age was real. People could afford food, gas, utilities, and were receiving fair wages. ^[xxi] If you don’t believe it, check your bank account or your utility bill. Better yet, ask your kids how they are doing in this inflationary economy that smells like stagflation. ^[xxii]

With The New York Times admitting after over two years that COVID was likely from a lab leak, we all know that Trump’s leadership during that chaos is what got us through the worst viral attack in generations where hundreds of thousands of Americans were lost. ^[xxiii]

While Trump is not specifically a wartime leader, he will be remembered as a Commander-in-Chief who carried us through the largest national emergency since WWII. So, the next time your want to hearken back to good times, remember the Golden Age. I recently asked some small children about what it was like before COVID, some of the children joyfully said, “Those were the days”.

Amazingly, Trump is leading major polls as of today and is winning bigger numbers than ever from Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans. In sum, a whopping 65% of voters say Democrats Harris and Biden are on the wrong track and 79% have claimed to be negatively impacted by the democrat policies and inflation. ^[xxiv]

________________________
Commissioner George Mentz JD MBA CILS CWM® is an international lawyer, speaker, educator, tax-economist, and CEO of the GAFM Global Academy of Finance & Management ®. The GAFM is a ESQ accredited graduate body that trains and certifies professionals in 150+ nations under CHEA ACBSP and ISO 21001 standards. Mentz is also an award winning author and graduate law professor of wealth management for a top U.S. law school.

^[i] Pay gains under Trump best since the Great Recession (cnbc.com)

^[ii] Small-business optimism surges to highest ever (cnbc.com)

^[iii] The Numbers Are In: Trump’s Tax Cuts Paid Off | The Heritage Foundation

^[iv] Total Unemployed, Plus All Persons Marginally Attached to the Labor Force, Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons, as a Percent of the Civilian Labor Force Plus All Persons Marginally Attached to the Labor Force (U-6) (U6RATE) | FRED | St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org)

^[v] Consumer Price Index: 2022 in review : The Economics Daily: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov)

^[vi] https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckdevore/2019/07/10/in-trumps-first-30-months-manufacturing-up-by-314000-jobs-over-obama-what-states-are-hot/

^[vii] Housing inventory falls under 1M again as sales collapse - HousingWire

^[viii] Consumer confidence soars under Trump. Here's what it means (cnn.com)

^[ix] Average Return of the Stock Market: S&P 500, Dow Jones | Seeking Alpha

^[x] NASDAQ Composite Index - 10 Year Daily Chart | MacroTrends

^[xi] 401(k) retirement savings account balances sank in 2022, Fidelity says (cnbc.com)

^[xii] Another Stock Market Crash Coming, Wall Street's Top Investors Warn (businessinsider.com)

^[xiii] Americans pay $120 billion in credit card interest and fees each year | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)

^[xiv] Weekly U.S. All Grades All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices (Dollars per Gallon) (eia.gov)

^[xv] Soaring electricity bills are the latest inflation flashpoint : NPR

^[xvi] US Utility Shutoffs Climbed Last Year on Higher Energy Costs - Bloomberg

^[xvii] Can’t Pay Utility Bills? 20 Million US Homes Behind on Payments, Facing Shutoffs - Bloomberg

^[xviii] Energy prices, inflation push Americans to seek help paying utility bills (usatoday.com)

^[xix] Diesel Price: 100% Surge in Costs and Scarcity Deny Farmers Their ‘Lifeblood’ - Bloomberg

^[xx] The inflation Biden overlooked (yahoo.com)

^[xxi] The Trump Boom Lifted Black Americans | Manhattan Institute (manhattan-institute.org)

^[xxii] Opinion: The Fed expects a 'soft landing' and no recession for the economy. We could get stagflation instead. - MarketWatch

^[xxiii] Lab Leak Most Likely Caused Pandemic, Energy Dept. Says - The New York Times (nytimes.com)