One possible effect of the ‘America First’ approach the Trump Administration vowed to take was a weaker US dollar. Shortly after we wrote about this earlier this year, the dollar index began a steady march lower, retreating 7% in just five months, from 102 in March to its current level of 95.
Not surprisingly, gold has risen almost 10% in US dollar terms during this time.
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As recently as six months ago, many investors expected the dollar to continue its rally of the past few years based on stronger economic growth, via Trump’s agenda items, and tighter monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.
However, despite high expectations, so far Trump’s efforts to overhaul healthcare and reform taxes have fallen flat and have been short on substance. In addition, the continued investigation of Trump’s Russia ties has caused more investors to grow skeptical about the chances for meaningful reform, beyond unilateral executive action.
In a surprise move, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) just slashed its GDP growth forecast for the United States from 2.3% to 2.1%. It also cut its 2018 forecast from 2.5% to 2.1%. This type of revision hasn’t been seen anywhere in the world except for Brazil and South Africa, two deeply troubled economies.
This post was published at GoldSilverWorlds on July 28, 2017.
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