The Patriot Post® · IMF Downgrades U.S. Economic Outlook

During Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Tim Kaine touted the economic rebound he claimed Americans have enjoyed under Barack Obama — including that 15 million new jobs were created. Two things: That depends on whether you start measuring in 2010, and jobs created are far from the only measure of economic health. The reality is that Americans have endured one of the slowest periods of economic growth in our nation’s history.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded to 1.6% the economic outlook for the U.S. in 2016. This is a 38% drop from last year’s already underwhelming growth rate of 2.6%. This is the largest one-year drop for an advanced economy ever seen, according to the report. The report stated, “The weakness in business fixed investment appears to reflect the continued decline in capital spending in the energy sector, the impact of recent dollar strength on investment in export-oriented industries, and possibly also the financial market volatility and recession fears of late 2015 and early 2016.”

The report noted that the decline in the unemployment rate, which often has been touted by Obama and Clinton as a sign that the economy is healthy and recovering, can be somewhat deceptive because it can act as a false barometer overstating the actual condition of the economy. As Mike Pence said, “The policies of this administration, which Hillary Clinton and Senator Kaine want to continue, have run this economy into a ditch.” He’s right.