The electoral duel between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is regarded as the crazies U.S. election of our times, and experts say it is NOT helping the economy
Growth was already off to a lousy start in 2016. Experts predicted a summer rebound, but so far, election concerns are growing and the economic gauges are lagging.
Most voters don't like Clinton or Trump, according to "unfavourability ratings" in the polls. In corporate America, there's alarm at how tight the race is now. Many believe Clinton would be better for the economy than Trump, but even with Clinton, CEOs have concerns about how friendly she will be toward businesses.
Nearly 20% of the S&P 500 companies mentioned the presidential election in their latest quarterly earnings call as a red flag.
The great fear is that the chaos of the campaign will cause Americans to keep their wallets shut, something that is already happening among CEOs. Yes, firms are still hiring workers (U.S. job openings are at a record high), but companies aren't spending much on new equipment and research.
Not that this is new: Research shows a slowdown in so-called "capital expenditures" is common in election years. But Trump is a wild card that's arguably making businesses even more cautious.
In August, Clinton held a sizable lead. But Trump, once again, is the ultimate wild card. The usual models don't seem to capture fully the Trump effect. The race is now again neck-and-neck in key swing states.
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