America’s economic wins outweigh the losses in 2019

The outgoing year was filled with many interesting economic twists and turns. There were too many winners and losers in 2019 to list them all, but here are my highlights.

The biggest losers first: the politically bent elite economists, who spent much of the year calling for a recession.

With solid GDP growth of 2 percent to 3 percent, the economy was, and is, fundamentally strong. Those recession-confident geniuses were caught with their knickers down.

Another big loser was the WeWork IPO. The office-sharing outfit has too many square feet dedicated to unrentable community space to flourish, and was done in by a pie-in-the-sky IPO price that left the deal with nowhere to go but down.

Pessimistic investors were big losers, too. They missed a great year in the market — as did short sellers.

The winners include the American worker. There are 159 million employed Americans — more than ever before. The 3.6 percent unemployment rate underscores that. And average hourly earnings increased more than 3 percent this year.

Investors won huge this year, with all the major indexes up more than 20 percent. The FAANG stocks were all winners, as tech continues to innovate and create lower costs for consumers, while still making money. And retirees will benefit quite handsomely through pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs and savings.

President Trump was also a winner in 2019, locking up phase one of the China trade deal, the first-ever of its kind. And his USMCA deal overwhelmingly passed the House in December, promising to add jobs and improve trade metrics with Canada and Mexico.

Congratulations, America! Here’s to a happy and healthy 2020!