Fed Forecasts – Propaganda or Incompetence? – Ep. 246

Summary:  Last quarter the Atlanta Fed's Q1 GDP  forecast was 3.4% in February. The most recent number was actually .7%.  After all the negative economic data that came out today suggesting that Q1 could be revised lower, the Atlanta Fed came out with their forecast for Q2 GDP at 4.3%.  How is this possible, with no economic data to support this projection? Either they believe their policies are still valid in the face of data on a downward trajectory, or they are simply acting as salesmen, promoting economic health regardless of the actual data. *  Today was Donald Trump's 100th day as President of the United States * The media is covering this event and looking back over the last 100 days * Trying to assess the effectiveness of Trump's presidency thus far * What has he accomplished, how much progress has he made; * I think the origin of assessing the first 100 days of a presidency goes back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt * Who of course became president during the Great Depression * I think the President accomplished a lot during his first 100 days * That's been the benchmark for which future presidents have been judged * It's not about which President did the most good for the country during the first 100 days * It's just, "Who did the most?" * Because, FDR did a lot, all of it harmed the economy * Not only did FDR's exacerbate and expand the depression, * His actions had repercussions for decades * We are suffering today from the mistakes that FDR made in his first 100 days * He accomplished a lot, but he accomplished a lot of mistakes * I would rather have a president do nothing for his first 100 days * If a President just played golf for 100 days and did nothing * Chances are he might be the best president we've ever had * Most Presidents do damage to the economy during their first 100 days * To the extent that they pass a law, chances are, the law just limited our freedom and reduced our standard of living * That's true for most politicians: doing nothing is better than doing something * Because doing something normally means doing harm * I wish politicians would take the Hippocratic Oath, "First do not harm" * If politicians took that oath, they could not do anything * To the extent that a President can undo the damage done by a previous President * Then, he would be doing a good thing * I recognize that some of the things that Trump is trying to do is to undo Obama's mistakesOur Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Fast Growing Trees and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://www.fast-growing-trees.com* Check out Plaud AI and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://plaud.ai* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/gold for a great deal: https://www.quince.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/gold for a great deal: https://www.quince.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code GOLD20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy