Politicians love praising the economy, especially if it makes them or their party look good. But, how well has the Trump administration done compared to the Obama administration? Politifact Wisconsin looks over a claim about that.
In a tweet this summer, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson said business investment growth is ten times higher that it was under the Obama administration, thanks to Republican policies.
The Senator's office tells Politifact Wisconsin he used numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which tracks things like how much businesses invest in structures, equipment and software.
Politifact Wisconsin says there's an issue with that.
"By that measure, growth was about .6 percent the last two years under Obama and right around 6% the first two years under Trump," says Eric Litke, a Politifact Wisconsin reporter.
The other problem with the claim, according to Politifact Wisconsin, is Senator Johnson only compared the final two years of President Obama's tenure to the first two years of President Trump's time in office.
"If we look at his full scope (Obama) we see a very different picture emerging. The growth throughout Obama's entire 8 year term is just under 4%. To data under President Trump, it's just under 5%," says Litke. "So we have Johnson using a specific slice of the data that makes Obama's time in office look particularly poor, and we have him over simplifying the reasons for that change.
Politifact Wisconsin rates this claim mostly false.
