Despite the continuing uncertainty surrounding the rise of global populist movements, such as those seen with Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, and various elections in Europe, including the Netherlands and France, 2016 saw broad global economic strength that is continuing well into this year.
As is usually the case, how the United States goes, the rest of the world goes, and that certainly seems to be holding true currently. In recent years, as the States was still experiencing one of the slowest economic recoveries in recent memory, that lethargy seemed to manifest itself with deep economic troubles in countries such as Italy and Greece.
Surprising political moves
What has created even more uncertainty is the effect that some of these economic troubles have had on the global political landscape. Only a few years ago it would have been hard to imagine Britain voting to exit from the EU, populist movements rising across Europe, and even Donald Trump being elected President of the United States. He’s probably still surprised himself at his own political success.
Yet, despite recent years of economic sluggishness, and the political uncertainty it has created, the global outlook today is perhaps better than it’s been for some time — fuelled by the economic confidence being experienced in the United States, which is in in part the result of a change in leadership.
A chain effect
So far, economic players have responded well to President Trump’s financial direction. Domestic job growth means greater consumer spending. Proposed corporate tax cuts could spur greater profits and yet more economic activity on American soil, which has broader impacts on international trade, currency, as well as the movement of capital.
Is there a lesson to be learned from all this? Maybe it’s this: That, despite the uncertainty that always comes with politics, and especially democracy, a focus on economic fundamentals always bodes well for global capital investment — no matter who’s in power.
