Tyler Diltz
Professor
Obama Economic Growth
April 4th, 2017
President Barack Obama seems to be the most debated president when it comes to economic growth. When beginning to discuss economics under Obama it is important to note that when he took office, the country was losing hundreds of jobs a month the stock market was plummeting, and the Gross Domestic Product was shrinking. It was Barack Obama’s job to pull us out of a Great Recession. Several measures show the country pulling out of this recession during his presidency but also show that Obama’s record isn’t the best compared to past Presidents. The strength of the economy can be measured by many different things. Throughout this essay, Obama’s economic growth and economic deficits will …show more content…
The United States has added an average of 127,824 jobs per month during Obama's presidency, which places him fifth for job creation since FDR. Overall, employment is about 7 percent higher than when he took office. Although the unemployment rate is only 4.9%, wage growth has been very slow under Obama. The typical American family is earning around $54,000 which is almost the same as 20 years ago once you average in inflation. In the end, Obama was able to greatly improve jobs growth but failed in wage growth.
Although Obama made great strides in many economic areas, he was unable to overcome the amount of debt he accumulated throughout his presidency. In 2008 when Obama began his presidency the national debt was at $10 trillion. By the time Obama finished his 8 year term he had near doubled the debt and accumulated $19 trillion. When speaking about the amount of debt accumulated, Obama notes that the soaring debt is greatly due to when the Great Recession sent the economy in reverse. The following graph examines the way the debt shifted relative to …show more content…
Although Obama’s score is not high, it is at least still in the positives unlike his predecessor George W. Bush. In the end Carroll states, “Obama’s record also has to be seen in the context of a couple of larger economic phenomena that provided no help to his score: the need to reduce consumer debt that had soared under George W. Bush (“de-leveraging”) along with excessive real-estate inventory, and the below-average growth in the global economy after the financial crisis. Both proved to be sustained drags on the U.S. economy, but were no fault of
Professor
Obama Economic Growth
April 4th, 2017
President Barack Obama seems to be the most debated president when it comes to economic growth. When beginning to discuss economics under Obama it is important to note that when he took office, the country was losing hundreds of jobs a month the stock market was plummeting, and the Gross Domestic Product was shrinking. It was Barack Obama’s job to pull us out of a Great Recession. Several measures show the country pulling out of this recession during his presidency but also show that Obama’s record isn’t the best compared to past Presidents. The strength of the economy can be measured by many different things. Throughout this essay, Obama’s economic growth and economic deficits will …show more content…
The United States has added an average of 127,824 jobs per month during Obama's presidency, which places him fifth for job creation since FDR. Overall, employment is about 7 percent higher than when he took office. Although the unemployment rate is only 4.9%, wage growth has been very slow under Obama. The typical American family is earning around $54,000 which is almost the same as 20 years ago once you average in inflation. In the end, Obama was able to greatly improve jobs growth but failed in wage growth.
Although Obama made great strides in many economic areas, he was unable to overcome the amount of debt he accumulated throughout his presidency. In 2008 when Obama began his presidency the national debt was at $10 trillion. By the time Obama finished his 8 year term he had near doubled the debt and accumulated $19 trillion. When speaking about the amount of debt accumulated, Obama notes that the soaring debt is greatly due to when the Great Recession sent the economy in reverse. The following graph examines the way the debt shifted relative to …show more content…
Although Obama’s score is not high, it is at least still in the positives unlike his predecessor George W. Bush. In the end Carroll states, “Obama’s record also has to be seen in the context of a couple of larger economic phenomena that provided no help to his score: the need to reduce consumer debt that had soared under George W. Bush (“de-leveraging”) along with excessive real-estate inventory, and the below-average growth in the global economy after the financial crisis. Both proved to be sustained drags on the U.S. economy, but were no fault of