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Commentary By Allison Schrager

Five Reasons to Be Optimistic About the 2026 Economy

Economics Finance, Tax & Budget

One year ago, businesses — especially CEOs — were optimistic about the US economy in 2025, expecting lower taxes and more market-friendly policies from incoming President Donald Trump. Then came April 2, Liberation Day. The market fell, uncertainty rose, and affordability became a more acute concern. Meanwhile, the labor market continued to weaken, as immigration restrictions led to a slower-growing workforce and labor shortages in some sectors.

Nonetheless, the US economy persisted. As the end of the year approaches, the market is up more than 15%, and GDP growth in the third quarter was an unexpectedly robust 4.3%. What will 2026 be like? There are reasons to be optimistic, as many were a year ago. Here are five of them.

Continue reading the entire piece here at Bloomberg Opinion (paywall)

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Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. 

Photo by Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images