Given my recent posts about 'Trickle-Down' or 'Supply-Side' economics, I thought a little historical review was in order. According to the numbers, the conservative approach of "Take money away from 95% of the American public and invest in the few who need it the least" just doesn't work! The thing to keep in mind here is that during the Clinton years, taxes were actually raised and the Republicans screamed about how that would absolutely destroy the economy. The real numbers to look at here are the 'Median Household Income Growth' and the 'Employment Growth'. Bush's tax cuts that were supposed to be such a boon for the economy did manage to grow the GDP and investments, but didn't get the average american any further ahead, nor did they create any additional employment. The Reagan years, which they claim were so great, just don't compare to the growth of the late 90's.Their crap just doesn't work! How many times do we have to try it before it sinks in?
UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that my chart had an error. I had accidentally labeled the Reagan/Bush1 years as 1991-1993, it should have been 1981-1993. Sorry for the mistake.
Let me just say that your opening statistics are wrong...Reagan left office in 1988, not 1991 (unless he ran for a third term, and even Bill Clinton couldn't pull that off)...which beg's the question why your little chart refers to Reagan but doesn't include stats from the 80's???
ReplyDeleteThank you for catching my error, the chart should have read 1981-1993, not 1991-1993. I have fixed the error.
ReplyDeleteYour right numbers don't lie. Dont forget 1982 10% unemployment- interest rate 15-17%. I think the swing out of that recession for Reagan is more to brag about vs. Clintons. Clinton was riding coat-tails to an extent. Your right balancing a budget is a monumental acheivment, you can credit republicans for that and Clinton contributing by higher taxes to get there. Also dont forget wellfare was reformed then(Clinton), which is being reversed now(Fed money will be unlimited to the states). That will foster a whole new era of entitlement. So Bush 2 had inherited a dot com bust, a recession, and then an attack, then 2 wars. Actually not bad for all that. You cant solely blame the credit -bank issue on all republicans or Bush. Remember Community Reinvestment Act and no discremination for years. 2005 efforts to regulate were met with opposition. Coupled with years of the banks getting creative,swaps,siv's etc. I think Targeted Tax cuts with spending cuts would work(300Billion). The housing industry needs attention first. Take the extra 400billion of pork out of the bill. Building or repairing a road will create short term relief for certain working class and equipment. But once done unless they are toll roads they generate no money. Its not the Feds problem , It's the States.
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