Tomorrow, Donald Trump will be sworn in as America’s 45th president. While there is much speculation about the coming Administration’s approach to the economy, conventional wisdom has coalesced around the idea that deep-seated economic anxiety was a driving force on election day.
Is the conventional wisdom actually correct? In many ways, the story of the U.S. economy since the Great Recession is one of resilience. We have weathered the aftermath of the economic crisis better than nearly any other developed country in the world. Job growth continues to increase — albeit slowly — and the country is experiencing one of its longest economic expansions — now at 90 straight months of positive growth.
So why would voters feel anxious? Our research over the past year has found that local economies today are more divergent in terms of jobs and business growth than at any point in modern history. The answer is a reminder that topline national statistics often hide as much as they reveal.
