Why the economy is doing Bush no good
LAST WEEK WAS a good one for economists, as the normally dour practitioners of the dismal science got to use decidedly non-dismal, even exhilarating, words such as "surging" and "momentum" to describe the new quarterly growth numbers.
And they had cause for such enthusiasm. From January through March, the economy shot forward, growing by 4.8% \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd the largest increase in nearly three years and a stunningly rapid recovery after the previous quarter's Katrina-dampened 1.7%.
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has promised "more happy talk about the economy" as part of his five-point plan for righting the president's poll numbers. And President Bush himself has been bragging that "thanks to tax relief, and spending restraint, and pro-growth economic policies, this economy is strong, businesses are booming and the people in this country are working."
Strangely, though, the public doesn't seem to be listening. Americans are more than twice as likely to give pollsters a negative assessment of the economy as a positive one \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd 64% disapprove of Bush's handling of the economy. It's strange. The macroeconomic numbers are decidedly robust, but the public remains determinedly glum.
Normally with a stock market and economy doing as well as these number suggest the President would be getting a significant economic boost. But right now he is not. The article explains one of the big reasons*. The current economic growth is only helping those already rich. The middle and lower class are actually doing worse.
From 1990 to 1991, 13% of households saw their income decline by $20,000 or more in real terms. In 2003-04, it was 16.6%. And the difference didn't come in steep falls for the rich; rather, the top income quintile saw a reduction in negative income mobility.
That is ugly. 90-91 was a recession, 03-04 was an expansion, and yet more suffered income drops in 03-04.
No real surprises here for anybody that has been following the economy. But it is interesting to see some of the statistics showing just how bad the situation is.
Jay
* Two other factors I would include are the number of economic statistics that have been heavily warped to make the economy look better then it is and the bottoming out of our ability to spend via debt.
