Just a few months ago, forecasters saw trouble ahead for the American economy. A deceleration from the tax-cut stimulus of 2018, a sudden drop-off in consumer spending, a stock market crash and trade policy brinksmanship had economists warning of a giant pothole in the first quarter and a recession potentially around the corner. Even Kevin Hassett, the White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman, said in late January that there could be zero economic growth if the government shutdown lingered. (It ended two days later.) What a difference a few months makes. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis is due to report ... (full story)