Trump's tax cuts and the ugly truth about the stock market

Is the very success of the market undermining the case for the tax plan?

A trader claps after the Dow closes above 23,000 on Oct. 18, 2017.
(Image credit: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

The stock market is betting big on the Republican tax plan. All three U.S. stock indexes closed at record highs this past Friday — the 24th time they've done that this year — on the news that Republicans in Congress had successfully laid the procedural groundwork for their long-awaited tax reform package. Markets slipped back a hair on Monday, but overall they've been on a relentless climb since President Trump took office.

But there's something bitterly amusing about these ever-rising stocks: The very success of the market undermines the case for the tax plan it's betting on. In fact, you could go so far as to say it undermines the case for the stock market, period.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.