BTRTN: Bigfoot, Unicorns, and Superior Republican Stewardship of the Economy
Born To Run The Numbers attacks the myth that people who only vote by their wallet are better served by Republican Presidents:
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2020/05/btrtn-bigfoot-unicorns-and-superior.html
Excerpts: "Believe it or not, there are still people out there today who believe that the moon landing was faked, that an alien being was recovered in Roswell, New Mexico, and that Republicans are superior stewards of the economy.l Let’s take that last one on...
"In Bill Clinton’s eight years in office, the DJIA increased 227%. In Barack Obama’s eight years, the Dow increased 138%... George W. Bush ended his two terms in office with the DJIA down 25%. On the longer term, it is even more unambiguous...Since 1900, the average growth of the DJIA under Democrats has been 83%. The average gain under Republicans has been 45%...
"Our hypothesis is that the biggest reason for the strong performance of the economy under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama was simply that neither made a huge, stupid decision on a matter unrelated to the economy. Neither made a catastrophic decision that caused crushing damage to the economy...commerce under their leadership hummed away uninterrupted for eight years...The two Republicans in question, however, each made monumental errors on matters that, at face value, were not related to the economy. Except, uh, everything is related to the economy. If you make huge, stupid decisions about a war, a pandemic, or any natural disaster, you are going to have a huge impact on the economy. There is no economic policy on earth that can devastate the American economy as quickly and as comprehensively as a lazy and ignorant President who is not up to the job, and who is an abject failure in a crisis... Still, though, Republicans somehow fail to see that a lazy, ignorant man who acts on hunches is far more likely to make catastrophically bad decisions on a wide array of topics, many of which have a direct bearing on the economy. When it comes to economic metrics, the measure of the man may be the most important."
