By Hussein Shobokshi
IS the large US economy heading into a new era under the new presidency? This is an important question and any attempt to find a holistic answer will give us a sense in which direction the wind is blowing.
US President Donald Trump has expressed his intent to totally focus on the domestic economy, specifically on rebuilding of the infrastructure devastated by years of wear and tear.
The US president is significantly focused on reviving the mammoth national infrastructure projects, which will inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the domestic economy. With big companies getting record revenues, exceptional employment opportunities for American citizens will accompany.
Trump derives his inspiration from late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who assumed the presidency when the US was economically bleeding, which later came to be known as the Great Depression. The then President Roosevelt dedicated all his attention in the interest of his country and launched massive projects which infused liquidity into investments and generated employment opportunities. This helped the US economy successfully tide over the turbulent times.
The initiatives to be adopted by Trump will make the US market a great investment destination, attracting enormous funds from around the world. It will be a “competitor” to other markets, as huge returns are usually not expected from other emerging markets. The US believes that it has a competitive and attractive advantage to lure all other markets and this feature is US’ ability to mitigate the risk in view of the financial solvency of large assets.
The proposed initiatives will provide a golden opportunity for each major financial institution and individuals wishing to invest in a strategic option, which is different from investing in US government bonds that rely on virtually non-existent risks and petty returns on revenues. In short, this shift means that US’ giant financial institutions will seek to be a key market player in the financial market, but this time it will be an attraction for themselves rather than being a mediator for other markets. This will mark a great and important change. It will have a significant and remarkable impact on the global economy and competitiveness of emerging markets as it enters “practical” competition with larger economy globally.
Giant American companies in the field of construction and engineering will design and finance major share of the anticipated projects and machinery which will “mobilize” their production capacity and capabilities. This will obviously drive the market and price of shares on offer. Heading this development and with the other strategic decisions taken by the US government a long time ago and intensifying their production capacity of shale gas in which the US will not only be self-sufficient but also be a source and a global competitor in the oil and gas market. This will also change US’ customary policy, as earlier they have always played the role of being a big consumer of shale gas.
No doubt, these changes will have an impact on the global markets. Especially, considering the role of the US dollar as a dangerous economic tool since America pumps staggering quantities of its currency in the global market to make it as the only and easiest option to influence the commercial markets around the world, to become the official trading currency in the world today.
The US plans to turn its domestic economy into an enormous economic power. It will be the largest and most attractive market perhaps, with unprecedented projects unseen in its history. Priority will be of course for US companies, as personally stated by Trump on more than one occasion.
US gears up to compete with the world with attractive investment offers and promising returns. This is a new reality that awaits the world. America is a new emerging market, possibly, an emerging market equaling in size and volume of all the emerging markets combined!
