(Economist) How Trump provoked a stockmarket sell-off

The sell-off shows no sign of stopping. America’s S&P 500 index dropped by another 3% on March 10th, leaving the world’s most watched stockmarket down by almost 9% since its peak last month. The NASDAQ, dominated by tech firms, has fallen by 13%. It is not quite the bold new era of American growth that President Donald Trump had in mind.

His unpredictable trade policies got things going. Tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico—which were instituted on March 4th, before being suspended for a month on March 6th—top investors’ list of concerns. But after years of impressive growth, the future of the American economy is a growing source of anxiety, too, with worries provoked by a steady drip of discouraging data. Such news is beginning to undermine belief in American exceptionalism: after all, investors have seen much better returns in China and Europe this year. And as is often the case when markets fall, each development has revealed fresh things to lose sleep over.

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, Economy, President Donald Trump, Stock Market

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