This question came to me from the article…
“Q & A: I was wrong all along! (#2)”
- John wrote –
Just to be fair and to clarify something about spending. When Johnson became President in the early 1960’s, the dollar had much more buying power. After more than 60 years, Trump is operating with a highly devalued dollar. It takes a lot more dollars today to buy the same amount of goods than one could buy with a 1964 dollar. In 1962, I could buy 3 full size candy bars for 10 cents, one scoop of ice cream for 5 cents, and two scoops for 10 cents, and this was in Los Angeles at Savon Drug Store. I sold newspapers on a street corner and earned 5 cents for selling the 25 cent 2 inch thick Sunday addition. I had to sell one Sunday edition newspaper to buy a single scoop ice cream cone. That is why I can remember these costs and my earning numbers so well, even though I am about to turn 77 years old.
Anyway, of course Trump has the highest numbers, he is working with this least valued dollar in 60 years!
John,
Thank you for the reply and comments. I did use nominal dollars in the post according to the research I had done. It was a $ for $ comparison. However, you are referring to inflation adjusted dollars. That is a relative comparison. And a perfectly good way to view it in real terms.
So, after upgrading the information with inflation adjusted numbers:
“Trump had the largest budget deficit in that group of presidencies.” — TRUE. Even after inflation adjustment, the FY2020 deficit remains the largest annual federal deficit among the presidents since Johnson. The nominal deficit was about $3.13 trillion; adjusting earlier deficits upward for inflation does not produce anything different in terms of ranking.
Now let’s talk inflation adjusted national debt numbers:
| Presidency | Debt added, inflation-adjusted |
|---|---|
| Johnson | $0.50 T |
| Nixon | $0.93 T |
| Ford | $1.30 T |
| Carter | $1.24 T |
| Reagan | $5.73 T |
| G.H.W. Bush | $3.61 T |
| Clinton | $3.01 T |
| G.W. Bush | $10.10 T |
| Obama | $12.09 T |
| Trump — first term | $10.57 T |
| Biden | $9.80 T |
| Trump — second term through Sept. 2026 | roughly $2.7–$3.0 T so far |
So, adding together both presidential terms of Trump it hits over $13T in inflation adjusted debt added. The most of any President. And Trump isn’t even half-way into his 2nd term. So Trump will beat everyone else by a huge margin in terms of adding to the national debt.
So your statement “Anyway, of course Trump has the highest numbers, he is working with this least valued dollar in 60 years!” is inaccurate. Trump has the highest inflation adjusted numbers and the highest nominal numbers of any President…and he still has almost 2-1/2 years to go of his presidency.
Your statement “It takes a lot more dollars today to buy the same amount of goods than one could buy with a 1964 dollar.” is 10000000% correct! I am only a few years younger than you and I too remember the days when a dollar meant something. Unfortunately ALL our presidents, ALL congresses, ALL of Washington, and especially the Fed have betrayed us economically for 80 years.
You might be interested in reading this article, it explains a lot…< Was this intentional? >
Thank you again John, I sure appreciate the feedback.
AH
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- Q & A : I was wrong all along ! (#2)
- Was this intentional by TPTB?
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