I couldn't help but think about you guys while I was in Little Rock visiting my in-laws....I was following the great news on the Dow's ride back up...and I was sure that those of you who criticized Bush the week before I left for being President while the Dow fell must have been so excited to learn that he was President while the Dow was riding back up!!! We all KNOW that Bush controls the Dow Jones Industrial Average...so he must be a better president this week than he was last week!!
Economies are slow things... It takes a long time for policies and laws, implemented by congress and the President to actually have an affect on the economy. Lots of times, up to a few years. While Bush Sr. "ignored" the economy he implemented policies that helped the economy to thrive in the late 90's during Clinton's tenure as President. Of course, most people, who are ignorant or econmics thought that it was Clinton's work that made the economy good, however, Clinton's best work is that he maintained...that is he didn't screw up the economy while he was in office. But sure enough....through eight years in office, he slowly but surely implemented policies that were a little more liberal than Bush's, but because the economy was so hot nobody saw the impact they would have until the economy slowed down. Now, Bush Jr. inherits a slower economy...nobody quite remembers that it had started showing signs of falling while Clinton was still in office...because of the policies that Clinton had enacted while he was President. Now Bush faces the the brunt of those policies with the economy not doing so well while he was in office. Bush's economic packages will have a positive affect on the economy, they just won't for a few years because that's how long it takes markets to react. Its a cycle now...conservative in office implements good economic policy...gives the economy a good base of real support...liberal is elected so everyone "feels good" so they spend...drives the economy higher....liberal reverses the policies that create the base of a good economy....economy slows...conservative inherits bad "base" of economy has to implement the good "base" of economic policies all over again...the circle of life. The best economic times will probably always be when a liberal President follows up a conservative one...you get the conservative's policies just then taking affect when the liberal comes into office...and people spending because of the "feel good" nature of the liberal President. Anyways...I'll stop now.
I just thought about it...before the Dow started its upward trend (which I have no idea whether or not it will continue) there were a few people here talking about how bad a president Bush was for simply being president while it was falling....my point is simply he has no control over that...that the president and the market are not related.
I don't totally disagree...but the economy and the stock market are two entirely different things...the media and everyone else seems to think the two are synonomous. There have been long periods of time where there was absolutely no rational relationship at all between the stock market and the economy. We may be entering a period like that now. Plus...the stock market is an entirely different animal than it was about 10 years ago. I think the internet with the accesibility of information and the ability to purchase shares online is a big part of that.
It's not just that it takes years for policies to impact the economy, but I get amused when people blame the performance of our economy entirely on the President. Its like whatever our legislative branch, State governments, corporations, 200,000,000 workers, foreign governments, and many hundreds of millions of consumers do...really doesn't count at all.
Im no Republican, but I do know that its not Bush's fault that the stock market is in the toilet, and the economy is less than good.
Damn it, Jeff!!! I was hoping you wouldn't find out that I secretly control the market with Colonel Sanders as my conspiratorial sidekick! "Oh how I hated the Colonel with his wee beady eyes...'you're gonna buy my chicken!!!" "Dad...how can you hate the Colonel?" "BECAUSE HE PUTS AN ADDICTIVE CHEMICAL IN HIS CHICKEN THAT MAKES YOU CRAVE IT FORTNIGHTLY!!!"
