Donald Trump is on a roll.
Not only was he named Time’s “Man of the Year”–which is sort of an honor although less than you would think–but he was invited to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange–only the second president to do so.
🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump just became the first President since Ronald Reagan to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange
All while the crowd screams “USA! and “WE LOVE YOU DONALD!” 🔥
America is BACK! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DFQSQ6yaYN
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 12, 2024
Time’s decision is a no-brainer, given how extraordinary Trump’s comeback has been. I say that it is less an honor than you might think because the “honor” is given to people not for being especially good, but for being especially important. When you share an honor with Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler along with 14 both good and not-so-good presidents, the recognition is still significant, but hardly a guarantee of being a compliment.
Donald Trump is TIME’s Person of the Year pic.twitter.com/CVHX9o0DB3
— TIME (@TIME) December 12, 2024
Still, Time is definitely right: Trump has been the most consequential man of the year, and is likely to be so for several more.
The welcoming at the New York Stock Exchange was less ambiguous: for the people in the room, there is no question that Trump’s election means “America Is Back!”
The only thing that could have made this moment better is if ymca started blasting and everyone did the Trump dance. https://t.co/Tofxbhdyaf
— unseen1 (@unseen1_unseen) December 12, 2024
Joe Biden was elected on the promise that he would return “normality” back to America, and he has done just the opposite. He has created chaos in the world, a sense of doom in America, and a hunger for optimism that has been sorely lacking.
That optimism will turn out to be an economic force in itself. Dry statistics don’t really tell the story in an economy. Capitalism boosters often speak of the “animal spirits” that drive investment decisions and purchasing patterns, and the animal spirits have been let loose here.
Expect an investment boom that will revitalize the economy.
It’s not just Trump who is helping drive this psychology. The fact that power players like Vivek Ramaswamy, Mark Andreeson, and Elon Musk are seen as key advisors to the administration has a big impact. During Trump’s first term a lot of the big players were leery of associating with Trump due to peer pressure.
This time around, that consideration is totally gone. Everybody is worried about being left behind, and the “fear factor” of getting Trump cooties is totally missing.
Hence, the huge shift in mood this time around. Trump’s economic policies in his first term turned out to be a big boost to the economy, despite wariness about Trump himself.
With the wariness gone and a lot of smart people helping him improve on his first term’s policies, expect even better results unless a Black Swan event happens.
I can’t assure you that the next four years will be glorious because the rest of the world has a say in that, but Trump’s victory has created the right conditions to make that happen.
Optimism reins!
