A hope for economic stability
Last summer President Donald Trump was gloating and taking credit for how well the stock market was doing. It was the usual bluster, but now he is awfully quiet about the stock market.
I guess you can't brag once the stock market starts tanking, can you? The month of October wiped out the year's gains. December as of Dec. 18 was on pace to be the worst December since the Great Depression.
His tariffs are a large part of this, and it is costing the country. Also since the Affordable Care Act is under attack, the medical segment of the stock market is tumbling.
The tariff wars hurt the farmers so bad that Trump had to push for a $12 billion bailout. Now there might have to be a second bailout. Farm bankruptcies are on the rise in the upper Midwest.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 84 farms filed for bankruptcy in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota and Montana in the 12 months that ended in June. That's more than double the number over the same period in 2013 and 2014.
The increase in Chapter 12 filings reflect the low prices for corn, milk, beef and soybeans. According to Ron Wirtz, analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, this trend hasn't peaked.
Chapter 12 bankruptcy lets the debt be repaid over three years. I hope for farmers' sake that low prices on their goods rise. I also hope the tariff wars end soon and the country can move forward for everyone's sake.
Tom Carras
Elk Grove Village