That's not to relitigate the folly of the book, but as a reminder of what A.J. Trump's prediction during the 2016 presidential campaign that his election would bring about annual economic growth of 3.5% or even 4% was nothing but political sloganeering, utterly divorced from economic reality. As we observed nearly a year ago, structural factors within the U.S. economy, including already-low unemployment, a long-term decline in productivity, and rising income and wealth inequality may be headwinds holding back economic growth. Trump's policies haven't reversed any of those factors and may have made the third one even worse. The current U.S. expansion will soon become the second-longest on record; that raises the prospect that a recession could be looming.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 27, 2018 16:52 UTC