So there's going to be a big speech in DC tonight, probably mainly focusing on the economy. But enough about my sold-out book talk. I gather Trump is also going to be saying something. So worth talking about why the economy is growing 1/
The answer is, it's the deficit, stupid. This chart compared the unemployment rate with the IMF's measure of the structural budget deficit as % of GDP, a rough measure of stimulus, since 2012 2/ 
Trump's deficitpalooza is giving the economy as much stimulus now as it was getting in 2012, when the unemployment rate was 8%. Imagine what Obama's economy would have looked like if Rs and Very Serious People had let him run deficits that big 3/
And of course imagine if we were using that money to build infrastructure and help children, not give corporations more money to buy back their own stock 4/
