False: Trump: We created the greatest economy in the history of the world.

By: Devika Kandelwal
September 16 2020

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Between 1962 and 1966 GDP growth ranged from 4.4 percent to 6.6 percent. In postwar 1950 and 1951, it was 8.7 percent and 8 percent, respectively.During the ABC News town hall conducted on Sep. 15, 2020, President Donald Trump said that "we created the greatest economy in the history of the world." There are several metrics, including the unemployment rate, GDP growth, one could look at to assess the current economy compared to the previous U.S. economies. The unemployment rate plummeted to an all-time low rate in 2019 at 3.5 percent, the lowest in 50 years, since 1969. However, when Trump took office, the rate was already at 4.7 percent. In December of 2017, it was the lowest the number had been since the Great Recession. Obama saw a much steeper drop in unemployment in his second term, a 3.3 decrease in the rate, than Trump did in his first three years, a decline of 1.2 points. Moreover, the Washington Post noted that the unemployment rate was as low as 2.5 percent in 1953. It was below 3.9 percent for much of 1951, 1952, and 1953. The unemployment rate was as low as 3.4 percent in 1968 and 1969 and was 3.8 percent in 2000. Therefore, the historical data indicates that the unemployment rate was lower than Trump's in the 1960s and in 2000. During his 2016 election campaign, Trump promised to achieve an annual growth rate of 4 percent. In the second quarter of 2017, the rate was 4.2 percent, yet below the 5.1 percent and 4.9 percent achieved in two quarters in 2014, or the 4.7 percent increase in a quarter in 2011. The average quarterly economic growth under Trump, 2.5 percent, was almost exactly what it was under Obama in the second term, 2.4 percent. The Washington Post noted that growth between 1962 and 1966 ranged from 4.4 percent to 6.6 percent. In 1950 and 1951, it was 8.7 and 8 percent, respectively, and then was 4.1 and 4.7 percent in 1952 and 1953, indicating that economic growth under Trump was not historical. Based on the data, we conclude that Trump did not create the greatest economy in the history of the world.