CEOs Getting More Fearful Under TACO Trump Chaos

CEOs of some of the biggest firms in the country are losing confidence in the market under President Donald Trump, according to a new survey. Nonpartisan think tank The Conference Board, along with the CEO association The Business Council, found that confidence is now at 48 percent. The data was gathered from 130 CEOs from Fortune 500 companies and found a one-point drop from the last quarter, suggesting diminishing confidence in the market. Some 64 percent of respondents also expect stagflation within 18 months. This occurs when the economy slows, yet inflation persists. One cause is international trade policy, which has been turbulent, making it hard for execs to trust the economy. Trump’s “Independence Day” tariffs earlier in the year caused confidence to plummet, Axios reports. Since then, belief has improved. However, uncertainty reigns as the administration flip flops on a range of policies, earning the president the nickname TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out. In the tariffs’ latest iteration, Trump is dangling 100 percent rates over China, a move that would please few CEOs. In the report, only 22 percent expected a “balanced economy with trend growth and gradual reduction in inflation pressure.”