Effects of the Election on the Economy

The 2016 election that will be taking place in just under two weeks, is one of the most unorthodox and crazy elections that has ever been seen. While at this point in the race, the candidates are almost neck and neck, many people say that these two candidates are the worst ever to be on the ballot, and either one would cause the country to head downhill. All this uncertainty surrounding the race is a huge scare for investors, whose economic stability depends on the success of the economy and stock market. In fact studies show that economic growth is actually slowing down, as is less than would be expected. "The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week that U.S. gross domestic product ticked up only 1.2 percent in April, May and June – a pace less than half of what most analysts expected." Some people argue that this economic slowdown may be due to fear surrounding who will be the next president, as investors are holding on to their money tighter. Though some people think this is due to the unfavorable candidates, other think that this is just a regular cycle of slowdown that will take place in any marginal election. "When we've looked back over the last 30 years, we've seen two presidential elections that have spiked uncertainty. It was first Clinton/Bush Sr., then Bush Jr./Gore. They were margin elections, and in both cases it was the new candidates coming to the election". Another option is that it could be a combination of both. Fear over who might be president could influence it, but the uncertainty around Trump is also important, just because Trump has never help public office before, so it is much harder to accurately predict the effects on the economy of putting Trump into a public office.

Sources:
USANews
Marketplace