The thing is, people as well as the MSM tend to overlook factors that are involved regarding the economy.  Let's look at the last 20 years as an example.

 

1996 - 2001 - This was a time of huge change not only in financial markets, but also in social terms.  The internet was booming and people were making money starting up "dot-coms".  With the internet and "getting online" booming so much, many tech stocks were up and people were making money "hand-over-fist".  This was the "dot-com bubble" that started under President Clinton.  One thing to note though is also happening during this time frame (and slightly prior) was relaxed rules for sub-prime lending.  You saw the explosion of "payday lending" businesses as well as "title loan" businesses.  Along with that came sub-prime mortgage loans.  In other words, people with poor credit were able to get cash in various non-traditional ways.  This was under a Democrat President and a Republican led congress.

 

2001 - 2008 - Quite a few things took place during this time period.  First and foremost was the attack on 9/11.  It rattled the stock market along with placing a bunch of uncertainty among the population.  Advances in technology also cause the "dot-com bubble burst".  In the meantime, sub-prime loans, specifically mortgages were made easier to get, thanks to meddling by the government.  There were actually warnings and concerns from the Republican administration at the time, but they were largely ignored.  At the same time, investors and bankers started investing in "packages" of these mortgages which in turn caused banks and lending institutions to issue even more of them creating a "housing bubble".  While this is going on, the law of "supply and demand" took over making real estate value rise artificially.  Combine the perceived "rising value" of real estate with "easy to get" mortgages, and it's just a disaster waiting to happen.  When people started to default on mortgages starting in 2007 and spilling over into 2008, many investors and banks were caught off guard.  The fall of financial giants started to happen which not only included lending companies, but also large banks that are important to commerce in our society.  Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, etc. are huge not only in our country, but on a global scale.  The collapse and failure of not only those firms, but others has a "trickle down" effect on other businesses.

 

At this point, several things were done.  The first was TARP which was actually started by the Bush Administration and executed by the Obama regime.  It was imperative to get the banks "back on their feet" otherwise we could have had a total collapse of the economy.  When you're at the bottom the only direction is up.

 

2008 - 11/01/16 - The economy somewhat "recovered" in that the stock market has gained back the losses from the housing bubble, but nothing really special has happened.

 

11/09/16 - Present day - The market has actually responded in both an unpredictable way yet a favorable way.  Investors seem to be confident that the direction of the economy is going up.  Even today with The Fed announcing a rate hike, the market was basically "flat" (slightly down, but not by much).

 

I'm willing to bet that the economy is going to start roaring again.  New and meaningful jobs should start coming up and progress will be made.

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