Republican tax cuts are probably also playing a role, although the effects are hard to quantify. “Consumers got a decent amount of cash after the tax cuts,” said Joseph Song, senior United States economist for Bank of America. Few outside the White House think a growth rate of 4 percent is sustainable in the long term. But Michael Gapen, chief United States economist for Barclays, said there was little evidence of that so far. “Business spending is not picking up the way proponents of the tax cut had hoped,” Mr. Gapen said.

Source: New York Times July 27, 2018 12:31 UTC