Here’s a chart of total US employment from 2000 to today.
A couple of observations;
- Employment was flat from 2000 to 2003 … remember the bursting of the dot com bubble and the 9-11 terrorist attacks ?
- There was strong employment growth between 2003 and 2007 … remember the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003? … hmmm
- The financial collapse in 2008 reversed practically all of the prior 5 year gains … resulting in a net ‘no gain’ during the Bush years
So, when the Dems talk about the failed policies of the prior 10 years, exactly what are they talking about?
Hard to make a case that the Bush tax cuts creamed the economy. To the contrary, looks like they created strong job growth.
Obviously, the culprit is the financial crisis – a mix of the disastrous housing policy (think Fannie & Freddie) … and loose regulation of mortgage backed securities and derivatives.
Bush shares blame for the Fannie and Freddie fiasco … but blame for that is easily spread across the Clinton a administration and the Congress (i.e. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd).
OK, you can taint Bush with loose financial regulation and enforcement.
But, fin-reg does little to address the egregious security & derivative transgressions … and nothing has been done with Fannie & Freddie.
The main “Bush policy” being targeted by Dems are the tax cuts – of which less than 20% were “for the wealthy” – doesn’t look to me like they’re job killers. Go figure.
The Homa Files 