We all wanna compare; we wanna know. How is one team vs. another? How am I compared to my peers? So, it’s only natural that we do the same thing for the economy and how we’re managing our way out of it.
So. How is Mr. Obama doing?
Well, let’s look.
There is a good comparison over at both Rational Republican and Whatever Works. First, we’ll lead with Moe and her analysis:
The quick and dirty:
Looks goof for Obama. When he took over, the job picture looked bleak, in fact, the last month of the Bush administration marked the low point of the measurement.
But as Rational Republican argues, there is more to the story:
As Sean mentioned:
Again, the point of this argument is not to assess blame on either administrations’ policy. It simply puts the left’s claims into perspective.
What about if we compare not Obama to Dubya, but rather compared Obama’s recovery to the recovery of the LAST big recession, the one Reagan oversaw?
I saw a quick analysis over at International Liberty via Wall Street Journal:
This one’s not even close. The first 7 quarters after the recession ended saw massive growth under Reagan. Under Obama? Tepid growth at best. In fact, Obama’s biggest quarter of growth isn’t even as large as Reagan’s smallest quarter of growth once the recovery took hold.
Now, as Dan Mitchell points out:
To be sure, we have no idea what would have happened in the early 1980s without Reaganomics, just like we have no idea what would have happened the past few years if America had taken a different approach.
But when theory and evidence both point in a certain direction, perhaps it’s a good idea to at least consider the possibility that small government is better for prosperity than big government.
Reagan marked an ushering of small government, easing regulations and an embracing of free and open markets. Obama? Not so much. He insists on larger government, more and more regulation and a skeptical [to say the least] eye towards markets and freedom.
Reagan welcomed capitalism. Obama hates capitalism.
One President felt that government hurts the economy. Another President feels that government is the ANSWER to the economy.
YOU pick ’em.
pino – re cutting the size of government: Clinton was the all time champ. (Reducied the deficit too!).
Regan spoke out about reducing gov’t and spending, but didn’t have much impact in either area. Clinton did. Bush reversed the gains we made under Clinton. Obama? A little early I think given the seriousness of this recession vs the others you mention.
re cutting the size of government: Clinton was the all time champ. (Reducied the deficit too!).
Yes, he did. And it’s important to note that Presidents aren’t in a vacuum. For example, Clinton didn’t start cutting the size of government until Republicans controlled the purse strings. Obama….He had all three–MASSIVE increase.
Did you know that the Democrat controlled Senate hasn’t passed a budget in 700+ days?
Weird.
A little early I think given the seriousness of this recession vs the others you mention.
In several ways this most recent recession wasn’t as bad as the one in the 80’s.
In my opinion private sector jobs are growing despite Obama’s policies not because of his policies. Obama gets credit for increasing public sector jobs which are nowhere near as beneficial to the economy as private sector jobs. This economy wants to grow the only impediment now IS government.
private sector jobs are growing despite Obama’s policies not because of his policies.
Exactly.
While we’re at it, let’s compare my comeback from being down 7 pts in a game of Madden ’11 with the Bills comeback after being down 35-3 against the Houston Oilers?
You pick a recession at random, one that is nothing like and nowhere near as severe as the one Bush left us in, and you try that comparison to criticize Obama?
Besides which, as Moe points out, you (and many republicans) have a very spotty memory of the Reagan years, which saw the federal govt grow and taxes go up for many.
let’s compare my comeback from being down 7 pts in a game of Madden ’11
How did you get even 7 points down?
nowhere near as severe as the one Bush left us in
I’m not sure you can claim that Dubya’s recession was worse than those of the 80’s.
See these charts from Carpe Diem here and here:
So these are the American statistics? Just out of curiosity do you have any world-wide figures for the period? (Or at least figures concerning America’s major trading partners of the two times) I’ve seen the argument put forward that the current recession/climate is more global in nature so that, while the individual figures for America aren’t as bad, recovery is proving harder due to the over-all world economic climate. Bur I haven’t found the evidence one way or the other to support or refute this.
So these are the American statistics? Just out of curiosity do you have any world-wide figures for the period?
American.
And I don’t have those global numbers.
Here’s an interesting take on the “great reagan”
http://www.starkreports.com/2011/02/04/rush-limbaugh-chats-wme-about-ronald-reagans-legacy/
that’s great, thanks for sharing. Rush gets very uncomfortable when confronted with reality.
Loved the Bill’s comeback!
Let’s get real about Reagan. He and the Democrats in Congress made a devil’s deal whereby taxes were cut and spending increased. The result is that the debt to GDP ratio doubled from 30% to near 60% in Reagan’s term while oil prices declined. Reagan’s “boom” was built on debt and low oil prices. Meanwhile the US current account went into deficit and the makings of current crisis began. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Reagan any more than I blame the Democrats. But Reagan’s economic “success” was an illusion — it was hyper stimulation of the economy through a massive increase in debt and a drop in oil prices. The Democrats were part of this too — they share in both blame and credit.