Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos.
This content was recorded by Victor Davis Hanson prior to his Dec. 30 medical operation.
Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal.
Have you noticed the use of the adverb “unexpectedly?” It’s all over The Wall Street Journal. It’s all over the financial sites. It’s all over pop culture and the media culture. It’s never used in association with Democrats.
Usually, they tell us things are going rosy. And then when they’re not rosy they just leave it blank. But with Trump, we were told, remember repeatedly, that the trade war—so-called trade war—would sink the economy. That terrorists would ruin prosperity. We would be in a recession by now. The stock market was going to collapse.
That interest rates would have to go … Again and again.
And now all of a sudden, in the last few days, we see unexpectedly third quarter growth of the economy was … 4.3. That’s a booming economy in the third quarter! That was unexpectedly a new development. We were told inflation would probably be hyperinflation because of the trade.
And what do we find out in the third quarter?
It was about 2.7 and some months it was three, some months, 2.4. But 2.7, 2.8, that was pretty good, especially given Joe Biden’s average over four years of 5.2 every year. And then there was the unemployment—we were told [that] there’s a new high jobless rate.
But what was funny about it is the unemployment rate for third quarter was about 4.3. That’s pretty good. The old days, anything below five was good.
But more importantly, when you look at the jobs that were created and the jobs that were lost. The jobs that were lost mostly went to people who were here illegally and are part of the two million who left, whether voluntarily or not.
And the jobs that were created were, for the most part, U.S. citizens. So, what am I getting at? It’s a very positive message in the economy, and the Trump administration really has to hammer that home, both in comparison with the Biden years, but also in anticipation of what’s going to happen in 2026. Because you just have to ask yourself: What makes an economy boom?
The economist will usually say it booms if there is greater productivity. If there’s more foreign investment. If interest rates are reasonable and down a little bit. If there is plentiful, deregulation, tax cuts, and energy production. Let’s ask ourselves if any of that might happen in 2026.
Foreign investment [will be] probably $10 trillion. That’s half of what Trump thinks is 20 trillion, but that’s a lot. A lot. Ten trillion dollars into the U.S. economy expected in 2026?
We’re pumping almost 14 million barrels a day. Most administrations would say, “Well, let’s slow it down…it’s a finite resource. More oil is out of the ground than in…”
Not this administration.
They want to go up to 15, 16 million barrels. So, there’s going to be more oil next year and cheaper prices than this year.
How about the Big Beautiful Bill? It’s got all sorts of tax cuts.
A lot of tax cuts. And it’s got more deregulation than we’ve ever seen. More deregulation, more tax cuts next year. I haven’t seen that before.
How about new technologies?
People are talking… Truth Social, itself, has been merged with a nuclear fusion, huge conglomerate. Fusion is not just theoretical, it’s on the agenda for next year, along with huge AI plants. So, all these new technologies are going to kick in an interest rate. Does anybody believe that interest rates, when Jerome Powell’s tenure is over, are going to increase?
No. They’re going to go down. So, what am I saying? Add it all up. We’ve had an unexpectedly, unexpectedly, unexpectedly good third quarter. I imagine the fourth quarter might be just as good if it were not for the government shutdown—the longest in history—that occurred in the fourth quarter. But we’ll see.
But more importantly, more foreign investment, more tax cuts, more deregulation, more energy development, lower interest. And I think you’re going see an economic bonanza with one caveat. Be prepared for “unexpectedly.” Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal.
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