Trump and the economy

published 15 June 2018

Published by Palgrave Macmillan, £17.99

In the run-up to the last US presidential election, most people predicted that if Trump won the stockmarket would tank. The market did tumble following Trump's victory, but only for a few hours before recovering. Since then, the bull market has continued and the S&P 500 is a third higher than it was before election day. Yet economist Nicholas Sargen argues that this hides longer-term problems that must be tackled for the economy to keep growing.

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In his new book, Sargen looks at the impact of economic policies on the market. The first section looks at the relationship between financial markets and growth. Part two considers how fiscal and regulatory policies affect growth. Next, he examines the impact of trade, monetary policy and exchange rates on the US economy. Finally, he discusses how globalisation has affected the United States and investors.

If you're looking for Trump-related stock tips, you will be disappointed. But Sargen does provide a detailed, yet concise explanation of how economic policies affect financial markets. He also offers investors some pointers as to the issues they should be following more closely. Since many of these have been crowded out by the focus on Trump's tweets and brash behaviour, this is a much-needed corrective.