If You Think Clinton Was Good For The Economy, Then You Don't Understand The Economy [View all]

[FarCenter]

Dean Baker, CEPR

We evaluate teachers by how well their students do. If we applied a similar standard to economic reporters, then the whole lot of them would be sent packing tomorrow.

The Post told readers that Bill Clinton is an effective spokesperson for President Obama in part because:

"Clinton himself presided over an economic boom and a balanced budget gives him credibility to make the case against Romney and the Republicans."

Actually, the seeds of the current disaster were put in place by the policies of the Clinton administration. President Clinton did nothing to try to check the rise of the stock bubble. Its collapse in 2000-2002 led to the longest period without job creation since the Great Depression, until the current downturn.

The economy only recovered from this downturn and began creating jobs again with the rise of the housing bubble. The burst of that bubble of course gave us our current downturn.

http://www.businessinsider.com/if-clintons-economic-record-is-viewed-positively-then-it-speaks-to-the-horrible-state-of-economic-reporting-2012-6