How Trump Became Triumphant: His Nativist Anti-Immigration Rhetoric Has Struck a Chord with Many Americans

The Civilian Unemployment Rate is low:

Obama has added 10.3 million jobs since the start of his term.  He ranks just below President Clinton and President Reagan in terms of absolute number of jobs created.

This is a considerable feat, given what he had to start with since he was ushered into power right in the middle of the steepest recession since WWII.

Despite all this, people are angry.  They want to vote for a guy like Donald Trump anti-immigration rhetoric that began with his Presidential Announcement last June has inspired the resurgence of white nationalists all over the country.

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Normally, these type of comments would sound the death knell for any politician.  But these are not normal times and Donald Trump is not your normal politician. Donald Trump has continued to maintain a commanding lead in the Republican primaries.

So what gives? Why are people so angry? Why has the likes of Donald Trump struck a chord with so many American voters?

One simple reason: Foreign Born Workers.

Foreign Born Workers are an ever increasing part of the Civilian Non-Institutional Population (the working age population:

Although Foreign Born and Native Born workers have similar unemployment rates:

And the proportion of unemployed Foreign Born workers has remained pretty constant:

Foreign Born workers have significantly higher labor force participation rates:

This means that more of them want jobs.  Therefore they are an increasing percentage of the Total Civilian Labor Force (those who have jobs and those who don't have jobs and are looking for work.

And more of them are finding jobs at a higher rate than Native Born Workers:

As a result, Foreign Born workers are an ever increasing percentage of those with jobs.

So most of the job growth since the start of the December 2007 recession has gone to Foreign Born workers.  

As a result, wages continue to stagnate:

Sources: St. Louis Federal Reserve, Calculated Risk, BLS.GOV, Pew Research, Washington Post, Real Clear Politics

Great Depression vs. Great Recession: Unemployment - Updated January 2016

The reported unemployment rate during the Great Depression was significantly higher than the reported unemployment rates of the Great Recession.

But are the two rates comparable? Before 1938, children were a significant part of the labor force.  In 1900, children younger than sixteen made up as much as eighteen percent of the labor force.  It was only when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 became law that children younger than sixteen were barred from working in manufacturing and mining but not agriculture.

To make the numbers more comparable, it is better to get the ratio of Employment to the Total Population (which includes children). When we do this, the two measures are not so far apart.  In 1929, the year "0" for the Great Depression, 54.41% of the total population was employed.  By 1933, year "4", only 41.97% of the population was employed. But the rise in employment was dramatic.  Four years later, 47.63% of the population was employed, almost six percentage points higher. The employment momentum only stalled when the tax hikes of 1937 induced another recession in 1938 and new child labor laws barred children from the labor force.  If the momentum had continued, the employment ratio would have recovered in less than five years.


In 2007, the year "0" of the Great Recession, 48.38% of the population was employed.   Four years later, only 44.82% of the population was employed, a drop of less than 4 percentage points.  By January 2016 or four years after the Great Recession bottomed out, only 46.62% of the population is employed, an increase of only 1.93% percentage points.  The growth rate of employment was less than a third that of the Great Depression.  At this rate, it will take five more years or 2021 before employment recovers to that of Year "0".

Great Depression vs. Great Recession

Source: www.worldbank.org, www.bea.gov, Reinhart and Rogoff, "This Time is Different"

The US Housing Bubble Has Been Fully Reflated

Last week, I came across this chart from Barry Ritholtz's BloombergView column "Confusion About the Financial Crisis Won't Die":





According to Barry Ritholtz:

"the ratio of home prices to income began to tick up in the early 2000s. By 2002, it was approaching its 1980s highs. It was a standard deviation away from the norm by 2004, and it reached at 2 1/2 times the norm in 2005. Housing, as a few of us observed long before the financial crisis bloomed, was a debacle about to happen.

 The housing boom drove employment in construction, mortgage brokerage, home furnishings and durable goods. We even had a bull market in real-estate agents. People pulled cash out of their homes at furious rates to fund renovations at first, then big-screen televisions, automobiles and vacations. The broader way to understand this is that wages were stagnant, inflation was starting to rise and rather than accept a drop in living standards, people used home equity to maintain consumption."

I noticed that the chart from Ned Davis Research only covered the period from 1977 to 2010. Home Prices, as indicated by the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index, have increased substantially since then.

So what does an updated version of the Ned Davis Research Chart look like right now? It looks like this:

The ratio of Median New Home Prices to Median Household Income has surpassed the highs of the last housing bubble and is once again more than two standard deviations above the norm - clearly unsustainable.  Housing is once again a debacle waiting to happen.

Great Depression vs. Great Recession: Unemployment - Updated December 2015

The reported unemployment rate during the Great Depression was significantly higher than the reported unemployment rates of the Great Recession.

But are the two rates comparable? Before 1938, children were a significant part of the labor force.  In 1900, children younger than sixteen made up as much as eighteen percent of the labor force.  It was only when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 became law that children younger than sixteen were barred from working in manufacturing and mining but not agriculture.

To make the numbers more comparable, it is better to get the ratio of Employment to the Total Population (which includes children). When we do this, the two measures are not so far apart.  In 1929, the year "0" for the Great Depression, 54.41% of the total population was employed.  By 1933, year "4", only 41.97% of the population was employed. But the rise in employment was dramatic.  Four years later, 47.63% of the population was employed, almost six percentage points higher. The employment momentum only stalled when the tax hikes of 1937 induced another recession in 1938 and new child labor laws barred children from the labor force.  If the momentum had continued, the employment ratio would have recovered in less than five years.


In 2007, the year "0" of the Great Recession, 48.38% of the population was employed.   Four years later, only 44.82% of the population was employed, a drop of less than 4 percentage points.  By December 2015 or four years after the Great Recession bottomed out, only 46.45% of the population is employed, an increase of only 1.63% percentage points.  The growth rate of employment was less than a third that of the Great Depression.  At this rate, it will take five more years before employment recovers to that of Year "0".

Great Depression vs. Great Recession

Source: www.worldbank.org, www.bea.gov, Reinhart and Rogoff, "This Time is Different"

Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand Post Flat to Declining Housing Prices, Can the Philippines and Indonesia be Not Far Behind? - 2nd Qtr 2015

Almost all countries discussed in this blog post, with the exception of Thailand, have been experiencing rapid growth in home prices that have outstripped inflation by a wide margin.  The gap between home prices and their inflation adjusted levels are at the widest ever, particularly in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

Singapore


Singapore's home prices have now been declining for seven straight quarters, which, according to Bloomberg, is the longest losing streak in five years.  Home prices are still  75.50% above their year end 2004 levels. Overall prices levels, as measured by inflation have just increased by 30.09% since year end 2004.  In other words, for the past ten years, Singaporean home prices have outpaced inflation by more than 45 percentage points.

Malaysia




Neighboring Malaysia's House Price Index actually topped out at 182.14 in the fourth quarter of 2014 and has declined to 180.24 as of the second quarter of 2015.  Home prices are 80.24% above their year end 2004 levels.  General price levels are around 50 percentage points lower, at 31.06% above their year end 2004 levels.

Thailand




In Thailand, which has been experiencing political turmoil for some time, home prices have remained essentially flat since the end of 2004. Home Prices ended 2013 with the index at 100.54, just 0.54% higher than the end of 2004, but showing a substantial recovery since the recent low of 74.08 posted in the third quarter of 2009. In the second quarter of 2015, home prices have rebounded to 105.43, or 5.43% higher than its year-end 2004 levels, way below its expected inflation adjusted levels. General Price levels are 34.50% above their year end 2004 levels.

Indonesia



Meanwhile in Indonesia, home prices have showed no signs of slowing down their upward trajectory.  In fact, prices seem to have gone parabolic, climbing 4.63% in the last quarter of 2013, from a base of 121.49 as of the third quarter of 2013 to 127.11 as of year end 2013.  In the second quarter of 2015, home prices have climbed an additional 9.75% to reach 139.51.  Since the first quarter of 2007, home prices have risen 39.51%. Indonesian Home Prices, like every other country in this list with the exception of Thailand, have climbed faster inflation since 2007.

Hong Kong


Hong Kong real estate prices have leaped by 234.46% in a little over 10 years to reach a staggering 345.03 as of the second quarter of 2015 from a base of 100 since year-end 2004. General inflation levels have just climbed 37.87% during this same period.  In other words, Hong Kong home prices have outpaced inflation by an astounding 207.16% during this period, the highest rate of appreciation in the countries covered in this post.

Philippines


Philippine house price index stands at 217.20 at the end of the second quarter 2015 or over 117.20% above their year-end 2004 levels.  Philippine home prices, with the exception of Hong Kong, have posted the largest 10 year gains among all the countries considered in this blog post.  Like Singapore and Malaysia, Philippine home prices have outstripped inflation by around fifty-seven percentage points.  Like Indonesia and Hong Kong, Philippine home prices have so far no signs of slowing down their upward trajectory for the foreseeable future.   The question is, is this momentum sustainable?  Or will the Philippines and Indonesia follow its ASEAN neighbors, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, in exhibiting plateauing or declining house prices?  That remains to be seen.

Source: Global Property Guide, Trading Economics

Philippine Real Estate and Construction Loans Are Even More Out of Whack As of September 2015!

It sure looks that way, judging from this chart:

It looks like Real Estate and Construction Loans as a percentage of Total Loan Portfolio (TLP) rocketed past its historical range of 12.6% to 16.6% of TLP sometime in 2011.  That ratio peaked at 20.55% as of September 2013 but has bottomed out at 18.61% of TLP as of December 2014. In the last nine months of the year, this ratio has climbed back up to 19.96% as of September 2015.

Now, are we up to the levels of the previous real estate boom? (as in mid 1990s to 1997?) Honestly, we don't know.  BSP data only goes as far back as 1999 when the previous real estate bubble had already burst and the financial system was most likely deleveraging as evidenced in this chart.

Construction Gross Value as a Percentage of GDP Has Is at a 25 Year High! - Updated as of 3rd Qtr. 2015

Has the Philippine Real Estate Bubble Already Burst?

Is There a Real Estate Bubble in the Philippines?

Are Philippine Real Estate Loans Out of Whack?

Construction Gross Value as a Percentage of GDP Has Is at a 25 Year High! - Updated as of 3rd Qtr. 2015

Last May 4, 2015, we noted that Construction Gross Value (Construction GV) at 11.21% as of the year-end 2014 was already well above its historical average of 9.48% of GDP since 1990.  This ratio has run at an above average rate since 2009 and has already eaten away at the "cumulative underhang" or underinvestment in construction that has taken place since 2004, when the excessive investment in construction that took place in the mid to late 1990's was being absorbed.

As of the 3rd Qtr of 2015, Construction GV as a percentage of GDP now stands higher at 12.06% of GDP - an all time high for the past 25 years.  But the real story is that Cumulative Construction GV has gone well above equilibrium and now stands at 4.2% above equilibrium, a rise of 3.0% in just nine months.  Given all the planned new projects that are already at the execution stage, the momentum in Construction Investment will continue.