Small-business confidence reportedly is surging amid soaring optimism rises small-business owners about President Donald Trump’s sweeping landmark tax reform.
The latest CNBC/SurveyMonkey Q1 Small Business Confidence Index saw an increase of five points, from 57 to 62, a record high and the largest quarter-to-quarter move the index has seen since CNBC and SurveyMonkey began measuring last year.
Confidence rose among almost all demographic groups, with the largest increases coming from companies with five to nine employees, and small-business owners ages 35–44 and 55–64. Half of small-business owners are now expecting to see tax cuts in 2018.
"In the Q4 survey, small-business owners were split evenly on the core question about the effect that tax policy would have on their business. Opinions have shifted significantly: Twice as many now expect changes in tax policy to have a positive rather than negative effect on their businesses. Forty-six percent of those surveyed say tax policy changes will have a positive effect, up from 38 percent in the fourth quarter. The number of those saying tax policy changes will have a negative impact fell sharply, from 36 percent in the fourth quarter to 23 percent in the most recent survey," CNBC reported.
"These numbers are historically high," Juanita Duggan, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, told CNBC. "This shows small-business owners are more than just optimistic, they are ready to grow their business."
To be sure, other financial gurus agree with the effect of the Trump tax cuts on the economy.
Veteran economist and CNBC personality Larry Kudlow contends that America is now the “best country” for business in wake of the sweeping tax cuts engineered by Trump.
He praised the United States’ economy following the tax cuts and proclaimed the country now the “best” for business.
“We are on the front end of an investment boom that’s largely tied to the tax cuts,” Kudlow recently told New York AM 970 radio’s John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable.
“[It] will be stronger than anything we’ve seen in probably 25 years,” the former Ronald Reagan adviser told Catsimatidis.
“America is once again becoming the best investment environment in the world — the best country in which to do business. And that’s a powerful positive,” said Kudlow, a Newsmax Finance Insider and CNBC senior contributor.
For his part, Trump has taken to Twitter to tout the economy.
"The U.S. economy is looking very good, in my opinion, even better than anticipated. Companies are pouring back into our country, reversing the long term trend of leaving. The unemployment numbers are looking great, and Regulations & Taxes have been massively Cut! JOBS, JOBS, JOBS," Trump tweeted.
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).
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