I’m usually not the letter-writing kind and stopped reading the letters-to-the-editor in this publication a long time ago due to their general nastiness, often atrocious writing and frequent downright incomprehensibility, but for some reason did read one Len Mansky’s letter in the May 11 edition.
It was a pro-Trump letter which contained various opinions with which readers may agree or disagree, but there was one “fact” which stood jarringly out: Mr. Mansky asserted that the stock market, in particular, the Standard & Poors Index average of 500 stocks, had “doubled since inauguration day.”
I invest heavily in the stock market, so knew this to be untrue.
In fact, given the ease with which these sorts of things can be verified nowadays, I ascertained that the S&P 500 closed at 2,271.31 on Jan. 20, 2017 and closed at 2,727.72 on the date of publication of Mr. Mansky’s letter, for a gain of exactly 20.09 percent, a respectable number, but nowhere close to doubling. (Fake news, indeed).
Mr. Trump has certainly fulfilled his promise to the 1 percent, largely by lowering corporate taxes, thereby increasing corporate profits, and with them share prices.
I must admit that I have never understood exactly why the 48 percent wished to give the 1 percent such a presidential present, but I am not unhappy that they did.
By the way though, regarding Mr. Mansky’s assertion that the S&P 500 rose 41 percent under former President Obama for the same respective time period, he is closer, but also incorrect – the rise was actually 42.85 percent.
So it seems that the 100 percent fared better the last time around.
David Zevin
Roslyn
