Bloomberg, which I nominate for most anti-Trump news organization on the planet, published a piece today asking with all the innocence of a five-year-old whose hand is visibly wedged in the cookie jar, why people are not more upbeat about the economy, given that it is actually doing quite well.
Confused that Americans Not More Upbeat as They Sow Gloom and Doom https://t.co/Nh2x4JMmd2 pic.twitter.com/LGWL2KyyNZ
— Liz Peek (@lizpeek) September 3, 2025
The piece was titled “The worst good economy ever” and started out with this: “The US economy is still in pretty good shape. The unemployment rate is low and gross domestic product expanded at a 3.3% percent annualized pace in the second quarter.”
Yes, it’s true. Growth is good, we’re still creating jobs (check back with me Friday when we get the monthly jobs report), inflation is not too bad and consumers are still spending. Moreover, Trump’s much-maligned tariffs are 1) not driving prices through the roof and 2) beginning to deliver sizeable revenues to Uncle Sam, who needs them.
In fact, one of the most hilarious things reported recently is speculation that the market sold off Tuesday because a judge has declared President Trump’s tariffs illegal. That’s right – now there’s anxiety that the tariffs might end! (Hard to keep up, I know!) The president, remember, used an antiquated statute about fighting national emergencies to justify the imposition of tariffs; that has never been done before and so an unimaginative liberal judge has declared the move unacceptable. The Supreme Court will likely wrestle with this issue in coming weeks since the stay on tariffs expires in early October.
In any event, some are beginning to realize that tariff revenues of $300 billion or more this year and ongoing is a pretty nifty way to drive down the inflated budget deficit that Trump inherited from spendthrift Joe Biden. With UK markets plunging, reportedly because of that country’s fiscal woes, some thought anxiety about budget gaps sailed across the Atlantic just in time to undermine our stock prices. Suddenly, all those folks who have spilled thousands of words blasting the tariff plan were mourning their demise. Honestly, it’s all so stupid.
But I digress.
Back to Bloomberg’s faux confusion about the prevailing reaction to the “good” economy: “Yet Americans don’t exactly see it that way, and the nagging question is… why? Five years into an epic economic and stock market boom, why is everyone so negative?”
Ummmm…let me think. Could it possibly be that Bloomberg and other liberal media outlets has been constantly, loudly and relentlessly sounding the alarm about tariffs, inflation, unemployment and a coming recession, and that people have adopted their negativity?
The author supposes with Sherlock Holmes-level insight that inflation has “left Americans feeling uncertain and off balance” and that maybe some are worried about AI disrupting the jobs market. Seriously, people are paid for this.
Anyway, hours later, Bloomberg published another piece titled, “Manufacturing shrinks again”, which pretty much makes my case. It is true that the ISM manufacturing index came in at 48.7 last month, and that anything below 50 indicates contraction. But…the number ticked up from the prior month and – more important — new orders grew for the first time since the beginning of the year and “jumped 4.3 points, the largest increase since the start of last year, to 51.4.”
Two other positive indicators were that “A measure of prices paid for raw materials declined to 63.7 — still elevated but the lowest since February” and that ISM’s read on employment in the sector rose slightly.
Look – there are always plenty of things to worry about, and President Trump’s determination to reorder world trade via tariffs and new agreements creates a lot of uncertainty.
But, as to why people in the U.S. are not as upbeat about the economy as they might be, given record stock prices, low unemployment and good growth, do not look further that the liberal media, and Bloomberg in particular. It’s not rocket science.
