Let’s look back and give a brief evaluation of the economy during Barack Obama’s first year of his first – and perhaps, only (?) – term as President. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan from some 30 years ago, is the economy better off than it was one year ago? Well, yes and no. Let’s face it, especially for those out of work and or unable to find work – 40 percent of those looking have been doing so for over six months – I probably don’t need to tell you things are still rather grim.
Yet there are signs of improvement. And I’m not making excuses for the Obama Adminstration, which in my opinion has made a few missteps on the road to recovery, but much like the partyer who overindulges the night before, our debt-driven binge has left the economy with a whopper of a hangover, hence it’s not simply a matter of taking a couple of Alka Seltzers, a bit of rest, and “poof,” everything’s back to “normal.”
Though still holding up well in terms of personal popularity, recently President Obama’s approval ratings have dropped below 45 percent and his approval ratings on his handling of the economy and health care reform go from worse to worser, 41 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
Health care reform is currently in limbo and perhaps about to fall into Hades. The President’s preoccupation with pushing this legislation through, took his eye off the worsening jobs picture, which the Administration underestimated the severity of. The official unemployment rate – which doesn’t count underemployed workers and those not working, but not looking – still hovering around 10 percent higher than estimated if the stimulus had not been enacted!
Harkening back to one of Clinton’s 1992 campaign themes, as of early 2010 the Administration’s new motto is “Girls, girls, girls”. No, wait, that’s one of Slick Willie’s own personal mottos. Umm, it’s, “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” That is, “job creation” is “our number one focus [for the year],” as more aggressive (aggressive enough?) steps are being taken to right the slightly improving yet still feeble jobs picture.
On a more positive news front, compared to last year around this time, the banking system, though still stingy, has seemingly stabilized, the domestic auto industry appears to have risen from the dead, industrial production on the whole is up, net job losses have slowed dramatically, core inflation remains negligible, and once again a team from the old NFL won the Super Bowl.
And in terms of real GDP, the economy has expanded for the last two quarters after contracting for four straight. Yes, it’s been a rough first year when it comes to the U.S. economy for President Obama, but few called for Reagan’s likeness to be carved into Mt. Rushmore during his first year or two in the Oval Office. Yet, whether or not this is indeed Obama’s only term as President, ask Jimmy Carter and G. Bush Sr, is it, in the end, the economy, stupid? You betcha!
