Trump’s legal baggage

Jim Jordan’s sordid attack on possible Trump charges demands an answer

Trump campaign prepares for ‘new normal’: Running under indictment

After honoring Alex Ovechkin, Caps blow three-goal lead, lose in overtime

Sean Doolittle, still rehabbing, knows nothing is promised with Nationals

Wizards’ troubles don’t disappear in a deflating loss to the Magic

Macron defends move to raise retirement age as protests roil France

Ukraine live briefing: Zelensky visits Bakhmut; China’s Xi leaves Russia with no clear progress on ending war

Costa Rica, laid-back land of ‘pura vida,’ succumbing to drug violence

Republicans defend Trump ahead of possible indictment

Deputies appear to pile on top of Otieno in fatal encounter

Deeply, truly, very sorry: How tech CEOs talk when they lay off workers

92-year-old has grown tomatoes from the same seed lineage since 1965

Fed up with her town’s recycling, she collected two tons of trash on her own

A pet cockatiel escaped. A Billy Joel song helped return him to his owner.

Let this asparagus pasta with grated apple usher you into spring

This wild rice soup, with my vegan tweaks, reminds me of home

Leftover cabbage? Smother it in tomato gravy and pile it on grits. 

Judge sounds skeptical of some Fox arguments in Dominion lawsuit

Fox staffer’s claims of sexism, coached testimony jolt defamation case

Is Sean Hannity a journalist? Role of hosts is key in Fox News lawsuit.

TikTok is D.C.'s new boogeyman. Can Silicon Valley’s tactics save it?

AI isn’t magic or evil. Here’s how to spot AI myths.

Say what, Bard? What Google’s new AI gets right, wrong and weird.

Ask Amy: My boyfriend’s adult daughter won’t accept our relationship

Miss Manners: My friend dropped me and I don’t know why

Carolyn Hax: Is it wrong not to accommodate niece’s fear of dogs?

How to make the sanctions on Russia really hurt

Nigeria points the way toward democracy in a region in which it is scarce

Montgomery County should adopt ranked-choice voting. So should everyplace else.

New Yorkers bond over new city logo: They hate it

How to make the most of duty-free airport stores 

Mountain lion attacks tourist in a pool at Colorado vacation rental

N.Y. grand jury weighing possible Trump indictment not expected to meet today

President Joe Biden and the First Lady host a Women’s History Month reception at the White House, on March 22 in Washington, DC.

My Post

Saved Stories

Account Settings

Subscription & Billing

Newsletters & Alerts

Gift subscriptions

Contact us

Home Page

Abortion

Book World

Movies

Museums

Music

Pop Culture

Theater & Dance

Arts & Entertainment

Cryptocurrency

Economic Policy

Economy

Energy

Health Care

Personal Finance

Small Business

Business

Carolyn Hax

Classifieds

Climate Lab

Environment

Green Living

Climate

Climate Solutions

Coronavirus Living

Coronavirus

Daily Crossword

Daily Mini Meta Crossword

Sunday Crossword

Classic Crosswords

Monthly Music Meta

News Quiz

Crosswords

The District

Maryland

Virginia

Local Crime & Public Safety

Local Education

Going Out Guide

Restaurants & Bars

Local Transportation

D.C., Md. & Va.

Higher Education

Education

Holiday recipes

Voraciously

Food

About US

Race and Reckoning

Gender & Identity

Medical Mysteries

Health

Made by History

Retropolis

History

Immigration

Investigations

Jobs

Advice

Fashion

Home & Garden

Inspired Life

Parenting

Lifestyle

Media

Morning Mix

National

Foreign Policy

Intelligence

Justice

Military

National Security

Obituaries

The Post's View

Opinion Columns

Editorial Cartoons

Global Opinions

Local Opinions

Letters to the Editor

The Opinions Essay

Voices Across America

Alexandra Petri

Jennifer Rubin

Erik Wemple

Opinions

In Sight

Photography

Podcasts

Courts & Law

Democracy in America

Fact Checker

The Fix

The 202s

The Biden Administration

Polling

White House

Politics

Comics

Horoscopes

Puzzles & Games

Reader Q&As

Religion

Animals

Science

WNBA

Boxing & MMA

College Sports

Golf

High School Sports

Olympics

Soccer

Tennis

Sports

Technology

Transportation

By The Way - Travel

Video Games

Business Video

Entertainment Video

Local Video

National Video

Opinions Video

Politics Video

Sports Video

Style Video

Technology Video

World Video

Video

Washington Post Live

Capital Weather Gang

Extreme Weather

Weather

Well+Being Food & Nutrition

Well+Being Fitness

Well+Being Mind

Well+Being Body

Well+Being Life

Well+Being

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Middle East

World

WP Creative Group

Election 2024

War in Ukraine

Help Desk

Future of Transportation

Innovations

Internet Culture

Space

Tech Policy

Video Gaming

The United States is projected to grow 2.7 percent in 2018 as President Trump’s tax cuts boost growth, the International Monetary Fund said in a new report Monday, delivering <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/27/u-s-economy-grew-3-percent-from-july-to-september-meeting-trumps-goal/?utm_term=.b211aa834443">more positive economic news </a>as the president passes his one-year mark in the White House.
But deep inequality remains in the country and the IMF does not expect the growth to last long.
“We certainly should feel encouraged by the strengthened growth, but we should not feel satisfied. There are still too many people who are left out of that recovery and acceleration," said Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF on Monday.
The IMF had originally forecast just 2.3 percent growth for America but lifted its projection significantly after Republicans in late December passed the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in over 30 years.
The massive reduction in the corporation tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent should stimulate business investment and growth, the IMF wrote in its latest quarterly World Economic Outlook, welcome news for the White House as it tries to boost growth, jobs and wages.


 [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/ahead-of-davos-even-the-1-percent-worry-about-inequality/2018/01/21/551392d0-fd2f-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?utm_term=.f7644f20f15f">Ahead of Davos, even the 1 percent worry about inequality</a>]
 

America should also benefit from the global economic rebound that is underway, causing more trade and purchases of some U.S. products. At least 120 countries have seen a pickup in growth in the past year, the IMF said, a synchronized global upturn that hasn’t been seen since 2010.
The IMF is the latest forecaster to predict a brighter year ahead for the United States. Wells Fargo now predicts 3 percent growth for 2018.
“The backdrop at the start of 2018 is encouraging and supports an accelerated pace of U.S. GDP growth,” said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo.
But the IMF also cautioned that the growth spurt would be short-lived and other organizations, including the World Economic Forum, warn that faster growth alone will not reduce the inequality problem that has seen the top 1 percent thrive while middle-class incomes have stagnated for two decades.
The tax cuts are only expected to ramp up growth for this year and next. Then the boost will go away as the budget deficit grows and the government is forced to make tough choices about spending reductions or raising more revenue.
The IMF said growth will be lower than expected from 2022 onward “offsetting some of the earlier growth gains.”
It’s also likely that the trade deficit, which Trump doesn’t like, will grow even more as the economy improves and Americans buy more overseas goods.
“Some of the demand growth is likely to leak into a wider trade deficit,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics. He thinks that could trigger the Trump administration to put up trade restrictions, which could hurt growth.
There’s heavy debate among economists about whether the benefits of the Trump tax cut will extend beyond 2019 and how much better off the average worker will be.
Republicans argued the tax cuts would spur companies to invest far more in their factories and workers and those investments will trigger faster growth for years to come. But many economists don’t think the gains will last.
“Given where we currently stand in the duration of the business cycle, I think it would be difficult to maintain a 3 percent or better pace of growth for an extended period,” said Bullard.
<a href="http://reports.weforum.org/the-inclusive-development-index-2018/?code=wr124%20%5Breports.weforum.org%5D">A separate report out Monday</a> from the World Economic Forum highlights the ongoing problem in the United States and most advanced economies where much of the population has been left out of the gains. Trump recognized the anxieties of many working-class Americans during the campaign and promised he would help those at the bottom.
Of the 29 countries the World Economic Forum assessed, the United States ranked 10th for economic growth but dropped near the bottom — 28th place — for ensuring everyone benefits from growth.
“Strong GDP growth cannot be relied upon by itself to generate inclusive socio-economic progress and rising median living standards,” the report concluded.
Trump is expected to speak Friday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland — the first U.S. president to do so since Bill Clinton in 2000.
That year also marked strong growth and stock market performance, although the Dot-com bubble burst shortly afterward.
While the majority of Americans — nearly 60 percent — rate the U.S. economy as “excellent” or “good” right now, only 38 percent give Trump credit for it, <a href="https://ra.washpost.com(https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-finds-public-optimistic-about-the-economy-critical-of-trump-split-on-issues/2018/01/20/,DanaInfo=+30cb803c-fd51-11e7-a46b-a3614530bd87_story.html?utm_term=.3e7e21131b4c).">according to a Washington Post-ABC poll </a>conducted last week
The White House believes that will change as Americans begin to see bigger paychecks starting in February from the tax cuts.
But there is rising anxiety about unstable jobs and incomes in America, with a growing number of workers becoming “contract” employees who are only hired for short stints, with few assurances about where the next paycheck will come from.
One in five workers now identifies as a contract worker, according to an NPR-Marist poll out Monday. Almost half say their income fluctuates greatly from month to month.

Finalist, Gerald Loeb Award for Breaking News in 2020

Finalist, Gerald Loeb Award for Breaking News in 2018

Honorable mention, SABEW "Best in Business" award for economic reporting in 2020

Heather Long is a columnist and member of The Washington Post's Editorial Board. She was formerly U.S. economics correspondent from 2017 to 2021. Before joining The Post, she was a senior economics reporter at CNN and a columnist and deputy editor at the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. She also worked at an investment firm in London. 

Heather Long