It's true that Pres. Bush leaves offices with 7% unemployment.
It's true that the second half of 2008 was not good. At the same time, the "credit crisis" is very complicated as Pres Obama will learn. In other words, we have a lot of structural problems and changing presidents will not magically fix anything. I trust that the fanatic "yes we can" screamers understand that or they will be very disappointed! Again, the "credit crisis" will not get fixed because "W" is out and "hope and change" is in!
Nevertheless, this is not 1932 when 25% of heads of households were out of work!
This is not even 1980, the last time that a president really inherited a terrible economy!
This is not 1982 when unemployment hit 10%!
In other words, cut out the politically convenient "doom and gloom".
Open the window and get some fresh air!
Most of the world would love to have our unemployment rate!
We may be sneezing but much of the world is in bed with a very high fever!
The Bush years gave us positive GDP growth, as the chart above indicates.
Good things happened, unless you are still counting votes in Florida.
"Democrats like to claim the 1990s were a golden age while the Bush years have been disastrous.
But as the nearby chart shows, Mr. Bush inherited a recession.
The dot-com bubble had burst in 2000, and the economy was sinking even before the shock of 9/11, the corporate scandals and Sarbanes-Oxley.
Mr. Bush's original tax-cut proposal was designed in part as insurance against such a downturn."
The tax cuts worked rather well:
"As the tax cuts became law in late May 2003, the recovery began in earnest.
Growth averaged nearly 4% over the next three years, the jobless rate fell from 6.3% in June 2003 to 4.4% in October 2006, and real wages began to grow despite rising food and energy prices.
The 2003 tax cut was the high point of Bush economic policy."
What about the federal budget deficits:
"In fiscal 2007, the deficit hit $161 billion, or an economically trivial 1.2% of GDP. "
Trust me. We will look back to those golden days of yesteryear when budget deficits were less than 2% of GDP!
We will look back when BO's budget deficits creep up to 8% of GDP!
Back to Bush.
We are not saying that Bush had a perfect economy. No one does!
For example, I wished that Bush had vetoed more spending. At the same time, Bush was focused on the two wars and did not want to use his time fighting with Congress about spending.
Overall, the Bush economy had a slow start, a great middle section and a disappointing finish.
Again, in politics, as in baseball, everybody remembers your last at bat! Therefore, the economy of late 2008 obviously hurt Bush and McCain!
What can Obama learn from Bush?
Tax cuts work, specially when they go to people who actually create jobs!
Again, you must cut taxes for people who actually pay taxes.
On other hand, mailing checks to people, as we tried in the spring, is not important.
