SMC makes a valid point about the overall impotence of any president (regarding economic momentum), and I would extend such impotence to more than just the presidency. There are a concert of factors at play that affect the economy, and only some of them are directly influenced by the government.
Even among the governmental players, there is often gridlock and dysfunction that prevent more coordinated action. The president may propose an economic vision, but it is ultimately up to Congress to pass laws. The Fed may loosen or tighten monetary policy, but the actions taken on behalf of monetary policy should ideally be coordinated with fiscal policy (a responsibility of Congress). You have the regulators, the lawmakers, the Fed, and then a host of factors outside of our control-- i.e. the actions of the ECB and other foreign central banks, trade policy, etc. Arguably, a huge amount of economic uncertainty, slowed domestic growth, and stalled out unemployment figures are being driven by the European debt crisis-- something that American politicians are unable to directly influence.
I've LONG maintained this view, and am not suddenly espousing it as a defense of the Obama administration. I've felt that Presidents-- both Republican and Democrat-- take more than their fair share of credit and blame when the economy is both good and bad. Granted, the President is the most visible symbol of our government, and perhaps such a figurehead makes a more convenient scapegoat than say, the Federal Reserve Chairman, etc. I realize the purpose of the opening post wasn't to provoke educated discussion (or to talk about how deleveraging recessions have historically been long and required many years to reach full recovery)-- but I figured that I would reply with a more nuanced response than simply pointing out that the aforementioned economic facts exist all the while the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% have been preserved. 8% unemployment while the wealthy have historically low tax rates...Evidence that the "job creators" are hard at work reinvesting their tax savings in building America!
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