President George W. Bush may turn out to be the top economic forecaster in the country.
About a month ago he told reporters, “We’re not in a recession, we’re in a slowdown.” At a White House news conference a few weeks later, despite the fact that reporters pressed him to use the “R” word, Mr. Bush refused. And on Friday, after the most recent jobs report — which produced a much-smaller-than-expected decline in corporate payrolls, a huge 362,000 increase in the more entrepreneurial household survey (the best gain in five months), and a historically low 5 percent unemployment rate (4.95 percent, to be precise) — the president told reporters: “This economy is going to come on. I’m confident it will.”
We’re in the midst of the most widely predicted and heralded recession in history. Problem is, so far it’s a non-recession recession. Score one for President Bush. In an election year, it could be a big one.
First-quarter GDP growth came in at 0.6 percent. It wasn’t the widely predicted decline, and economists expect that number to be revised up. GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2007 was also up slightly, while the prior two quarters averaged over 4 percent growth.
My pal Jimmy Pethokoukis quotes Stanford professor Robert Hall, who heads the recession-dating committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research: “It seems unlikely that we would ever declare a peak-date when real GDP continued to rise.”
Interesting — isn’t it? — just how durable and resilient our low-tax, free-market, capitalist economy truly is. Hit by soaring food and energy prices, a bad housing downturn, and a Wall Street credit crunch, the economy continues to expand, albeit slowly.
Lee ADDS: In spite of record unemployment Democrats will not acknowledge the accomplishments of the Bush Administration. Faced with the ‘Clinton Recession’ and 9/11. President Bush calmly, and without blaming Clinton, went about handlind the nation’s business. He fought for and secured a tax reduction, overcame the ‘Clinton Recession,’ and staved off further Terrorist attacks.
With the Democrats battling every program designed to keep America safe, President Bush remains unflappable and calmly does the nation’s business. In spite of being labeled a liar, unlearned, and criticized for everything positive he has accomplished, Bush has done what his detractors could not have done as they have but one goal, that being, stay in power!
Surprsingly I learned today that fewer of our military have died annually that did in the late 80s!
