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Goes to show that Obama did much better than he was often given credit for. While Obamacare fell fall short of the medicare for all that is needed by business -

Goes to show that Obama did much better than he was often given credit for. While Obamacare fell fall short of the medicare for all that is needed by business - imagine not having to worry about covering healthcare for employees for your startup - his overall job of captaining the ship through incredibly hard times was very successful.

canada_dry 8y ago
This. Sadly, it's highly likely that the current administration will - of course take credit - but more importantly - reap all the rewards (i.e. votes) in the next federal election. I still am amazed at how Obama pulled the US from the brink of utter financial collapse shortly after taking office. Hopefully the next incoming administration will be as lucky.
- jazzyk 8y ago
  He did not pull us out of anything - just delayed the inevitable and prolonged the mis-mangement of the monetary policy by the Fed (with cooperation coming from other central banks). The public debt almost doubled from 11T to 20T during his presidency). He also created moral hazard by not only NOT prosecuting people who he himself called "fat cats of Wall Street", but actually continuing to bail them out (started by W. Bush)
- skookumchuck 8y ago
  If the market goes up under Trump, Obama gets the credit. If the market goes down under Trump, Trump gets the blame.
  - null000 8y ago
    More like, if the market continues the upward trajectory it had under Obama, he gets the credit for establishing that trend. If Trump does something stupid to upset that trend (ill advised tax cuts or tariffs, for instance) he gets the blame. He'd get the credit if he meaningfully accelerated the growth we saw under Obama, but outside of a short bump after the tax cuts that saw a predictable correction shortly thereafter, he hasnt. It's worth noting I do blame Obama era policies for wage and working condition stagnation/deterioration, which is the thing I actually care about (gdp and unemployment numbers are basically pointless if people who have jobs are living in third world conditions). That said, I have zero hope that the current administrations policies will reverse that trend in any way.
    - skookumchuck 8y ago
      The market went flat the year after Obama's big tax increase. The market started rising promptly after Trump's election, presumably in anticipation of the coming tax cut.
- ww520 8y ago
  The financial rescue and QE happened in 2008 while Bush Jr. was in office.
  - pedasmith 8y ago
    You might remember that Bush agreed to making a brand-new "Office of the President-Elect" just so that there could be a single plan of action.
rufusroflpunch 8y ago
This isn't about the President, at least not directly. Obama doesn't deserve credit any more than Bush Jr. deserved credit for navigating us through the .com bust. Since days of Alan Greenspan, the Fed has been inflating us out of recessions, into longer and more unsustainable booms, which are naturally followed by even worse busts. Our economy is like an over-correcting tightrope walker in slow motion. It's teetering back and forth further every time and you know at some point this whole thing is coming down, it's just a matter of when. To use a different metaphor, the Fed and the Presidents are playing a game of musical chairs with their successors and no one wants to be the one standing when the music stops.
- jacksproit 8y ago
  Are the busts worse by % or just by $ amount?
- neffy 8y ago
  That's not actually the case. If you look at the money supply for the US it has a pretty constant growth rate over the last 8 decades - while the Federal Reserve claims to be messing around with the interest rate to control the economy, the actual evidence that this is the case is quite lacking. (Illusion of Control problem) So yes, it's not about the President, but the nature of control over the financial system is not through the interest rate channel either.
  - vivafrance 8y ago
    The Fed stopped publishing the amount of M3 money a long time back. Do your homework. They literally printed 4 trillion dollars to buy up everyone's debt following 2008.
  - codexon 8y ago
    "If you look at the money supply for the US it has a pretty constant growth rate over the last 8 decades" I'm not sure how you can come to that conclusion given it is common knowledge and fairly obvious that the Fed has been inflating the economy at absurd amounts to get us out of the 2008 crash. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BASE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BASE
claydavisss 8y ago
The President of the United States does not plan the economy.
- vvanders 8y ago
  They certainly set directions and champion initiatives. Also, impose tariffs as we're seeing with the last 24 hours.
- asfasgasg 8y ago
  They can't make it, but there is some historical evidence that they (or, more broadly, the USG) can ruin it.
orangecat 8y ago
While Obamacare fell fall short of the medicare for all that is needed by business - imagine not having to worry about covering healthcare for employees for your startup Businesses don't have to worry about being the primary source of food or housing for their employees either, and somehow this is true without the government taking over agriculture and real estate.

canada_dry 8y ago

This. Sadly, it's highly likely that the current administration will - of course take credit - but more importantly - reap all the rewards (i.e. votes) in the next federal election. I still am amazed at how Obama pulled the US from the brink of utter financial collapse shortly after taking office. Hopefully the next incoming administration will be as lucky.

jazzyk 8y ago
He did not pull us out of anything - just delayed the inevitable and prolonged the mis-mangement of the monetary policy by the Fed (with cooperation coming from other central banks). The public debt almost doubled from 11T to 20T during his presidency). He also created moral hazard by not only NOT prosecuting people who he himself called "fat cats of Wall Street", but actually continuing to bail them out (started by W. Bush)
skookumchuck 8y ago
If the market goes up under Trump, Obama gets the credit. If the market goes down under Trump, Trump gets the blame.
- null000 8y ago
  More like, if the market continues the upward trajectory it had under Obama, he gets the credit for establishing that trend. If Trump does something stupid to upset that trend (ill advised tax cuts or tariffs, for instance) he gets the blame. He'd get the credit if he meaningfully accelerated the growth we saw under Obama, but outside of a short bump after the tax cuts that saw a predictable correction shortly thereafter, he hasnt. It's worth noting I do blame Obama era policies for wage and working condition stagnation/deterioration, which is the thing I actually care about (gdp and unemployment numbers are basically pointless if people who have jobs are living in third world conditions). That said, I have zero hope that the current administrations policies will reverse that trend in any way.
  - skookumchuck 8y ago
    The market went flat the year after Obama's big tax increase. The market started rising promptly after Trump's election, presumably in anticipation of the coming tax cut.
ww520 8y ago
The financial rescue and QE happened in 2008 while Bush Jr. was in office.
- pedasmith 8y ago
  You might remember that Bush agreed to making a brand-new "Office of the President-Elect" just so that there could be a single plan of action.

rufusroflpunch 8y ago

This isn't about the President, at least not directly. Obama doesn't deserve credit any more than Bush Jr. deserved credit for navigating us through the .com bust. Since days of Alan Greenspan, the Fed has been inflating us out of recessions, into longer and more unsustainable booms, which are naturally followed by even worse busts. Our economy is like an over-correcting tightrope walker in slow motion. It's teetering back and forth further every time and you know at some point this whole thing is coming down, it's just a matter of when. To use a different metaphor, the Fed and the Presidents are playing a game of musical chairs with their successors and no one wants to be the one standing when the music stops.

jacksproit 8y ago
Are the busts worse by % or just by $ amount?
neffy 8y ago
That's not actually the case. If you look at the money supply for the US it has a pretty constant growth rate over the last 8 decades - while the Federal Reserve claims to be messing around with the interest rate to control the economy, the actual evidence that this is the case is quite lacking. (Illusion of Control problem) So yes, it's not about the President, but the nature of control over the financial system is not through the interest rate channel either.
- vivafrance 8y ago
  The Fed stopped publishing the amount of M3 money a long time back. Do your homework. They literally printed 4 trillion dollars to buy up everyone's debt following 2008.
- codexon 8y ago
  "If you look at the money supply for the US it has a pretty constant growth rate over the last 8 decades" I'm not sure how you can come to that conclusion given it is common knowledge and fairly obvious that the Fed has been inflating the economy at absurd amounts to get us out of the 2008 crash. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BASE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BASE

claydavisss 8y ago

The President of the United States does not plan the economy.

vvanders 8y ago
They certainly set directions and champion initiatives. Also, impose tariffs as we're seeing with the last 24 hours.
asfasgasg 8y ago
They can't make it, but there is some historical evidence that they (or, more broadly, the USG) can ruin it.

orangecat 8y ago

While Obamacare fell fall short of the medicare for all that is needed by business - imagine not having to worry about covering healthcare for employees for your startup Businesses don't have to worry about being the primary source of food or housing for their employees either, and somehow this is true without the government taking over agriculture and real estate.