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Don’t buy the lie that Obama’s leaving behind a healthy economy

 

After eight years of blaming America’s problems on George W. Bush, the press that got the election wrong is rolling out a new line — that President Obama is handing President-elect Donald Trump a booming economy.

That takes some brass.

The jobless rate is down to 4.6 percent, and the growth rate is up above 2 percent or even 3 percent, with housing prices getting back to pre-recession levels. Stocks are soaring. So the idea seems to be that Obama has solved the problem in the nick of time.

“Obama’s gift to Trump” is the headline on CNN. “Trump inherits healthy economy” is the way the Financial Times is headlining the yarn. Politico reckons that Trump is being handed an “Obama boom.”

Plus, the Economist magazine is out this week with a cover featuring George Washington’s image from the greenback. Except that he’s shirtless, with his arms crossed and biceps bulging, and the headline says “The mighty dollar.”

These geniuses remind me of Mark Twain trying to palm off the idea that “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” If the economy is so all-fired ducky, how come Americans just tossed out the party that’s claiming credit for it?

The truth is that the Obama years have been among America’s worst for the economy. His eight years will go down in history as the Great Recession, even though for much, even most, of the span, we weren’t technically in a recession.

It just felt that way. And no wonder. Obama’s is the only modern presidency that failed to show a single year of growth above 3 percent, a point Trump stressed during the campaign (and that was conceded even by the Web site Politifact).

Plus, the Obama economy failed to prosper even though the Federal Reserve had its pedal to the metal. Its quantitative easing, $2 trillion balance-sheet expansion and zero-interest-rate policy all produced zilch.

Except for pumping up Wall Street and producing what Trump calls a “false economy.” The recent declines in the unemployment rate are due less to the uptick in employed persons than to an increasing number of persons leaving the labor force.

In a “true economy” what people would boast about would be the number of employed persons rising faster than the size of an expanding workforce. In reality, the job participation rate is the lowest in decades, as millions are too discouraged to seek a job.

And the recent record Dow Jones average? It’s pumped up by the Federal Reserve. It’s nowhere near a record if the Dow is calculated in the most traditional measure of value. The gold value of the Dow peaked way back in 1999.

http://nypost.com/2016/12/07/dont-buy-the-lie-that-obamas-leaving-behind-a-healthy-economy/

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On 9/6/2013 at 4:54 PM, TakeYouToTasker said:

We're seeing surging commodity prices now, coupled with a faltering bond market, and an international sovergn debt market in absolute crisis.

 

The increased tax burden necessary to service the new debt.

 

A dollar weakened by inflation purchases less. Dollars don't exist in a vaccum: when the supply goes up, the demand goes down, and does harm to consumers, the largest harm being done to the poor and the elderly who live on fixed incomes.

 

I told you this would be fun.

This is great stuff here in this thread! :lol:

 

You guys are all whining about inflation! We are all going to die! :lol:

On 9/24/2013 at 1:37 PM, TakeYouToTasker said:

I'll be more than happy to explain it to you, but first you'll need to do two things:

 

1) Admit, publicly, that you don't understand what causes inflation, or what it's effects on the economy are.

 

2) Tell me what you believe inflation is, so that we can begin to agree on defined terms for the purposes of the conversation.

Inflation? Why were you so concerned about inflation again??? Tell us 

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