Finance professor Jeremy Siegel suggests Donald Trump’s regard for market movements will act as a check against policy overreach. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
“No one has defined himself and his success as much as Trump has with the performance of the stock market”, says Siegel, a reference to Trump’s routine boasts about market gains during his first presidency. Siegel notes more than half of Americans now own stocks, whether directly or indirectly, so continued gains represent a political asset for Trump.
In all these cases, markets “are going to be the watchdogs”, suggests Siegel, and Trump’s keen awareness of market movements will rein in his wilder policy instincts.