Letter to the Editor: For Many, America’s Economy Is a Disaster

The Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing index has fallen to its lowest point since 2009, the depths of the Great Recession. The new jobs number for September is anemic. Globally, China, Europe and Japan are all showing signs of serious problems, and Britain, with its self-inflicted Brexit mess, is flashing red.

But even absent all these profoundly worrisome realities – even if manufacturing were robust, jobs numbers soaring and countries around the world showing no signs of trouble – the American economy would still be deeply problematic.

Our so-called president likes to talk about our “great economy,” but a country where tens of millions have to work three or four jobs to cobble together a living does not have a great economy. A country where millions of employed people cannot afford housing does not have a great economy. A country where more and more people are being forced out of basic health-care coverage and end up bankrupted by health-care costs does not have a great economy. A country where 44 million people are up to their necks in student debt does not have a great economy.

What Donald Trump likes to trumpet as a great economy is great only for the wealthy. For most of the rest, it’s an accelerating train wreck.

Let’s quit talking about how great this economy is. For far too many Americans, it’s a disaster.

Betsy Rogers

Belleville, Illinois