Every day brings another major news story telling of improving economic conditions. Well, I guess there’s no where to go from here but up might be one answer. Another answer is baloney. Take a good look at the compilation graph above. this is U.S. employment graphed versus months from the start of every recession since WWII. Do you notice any standing out. O.K., I’ll admit that’s a cheap shot. So I’ll dig a little deeper.
When will we learn the lesson that the more the Federal Government spends in an attempt to pull us out of a recession the longer and more severe the recession becomes. This has been discussed by every credible economist not named Paul krugman, (Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, to name a few,) many times over the last century. Politicians in general though like to ignore the advice completely, and even claim that they were advised the exact opposite for two reasons. One, the opposite advice allows them the appearance of doing something. Politically speaking, it matters little to a President if the recession lasts 18 months rather than 12, so long as it is over before the next election, and the general sentiment is that it was the President’s policies which pulled us through the tough times. Two, it allows for a lot of politically motivated reckless spending. President’s benefit politically from being allowed to turn the federal spigots on with nary a peep from any opposition with a say so.
The current recession has done at least one thing for those paying attention. During Bush’s 8 years in office we read nothing in the media but stories relating to how bad the economy was. In 2004, I can remember a co-worker telling me that he was going to vote for Kerry because, “we got to do something about this economy man.” Indeed, I can still hear Kerry droning on about it being the worst record on jobs since the great depression. Putting aside for the moment that the unemployment rate was below 4%, and every other demonstrable indication was that the economy was booming at the time, we still go those stories, daily. Once the election was over, the news being reported changed. Today, real unemployment remains above 15%, and we are treated to stories of an economic boom. The unemployment numbers are purposefully massaged in order to give the appearance that Washington’s lead is working. This recovery has taken far longer than any other since WWII, and in fact has been far more shallow than any other as well.
The economy will recover eventually. It always does. The difference is the strength of the recovery. In 2012 Obama and his merry band of idiots will take credit for whatever economic recovery there is. He will tell people that it would have been so much worse had his policies not been inflicted on the rest of us. At that time, refer to the graph above, and realize who’s recession stands out amongst every other. This is the only possible result of Obama’s domestic agenda. Remember this graph two years from now. As a resource, this graph is getting it’s own page on the blog. Keep it in mind when you read the daily news stories about how Obama laid his hands on the U.S. economy and saved us from certain doom.
One more thought, there are plenty of my fellow conservatives wringing hands at the prospect of President Obama’s absence from actually attending the functions of his job. I am somewhat torn on this one. While we need actual leadership in our President, we aren’t going to get that from Obama whether he sits behind his desk or not. With him playing golf, basketball, and partying in Brazil he truly will do less damage that way. I say, encourage Obama to play at least 18 holes a day for the next 1 and 3/4 of a year.
Crossposted at Musings of a Mad Conservative.
Tags: Media bias, Recession
