Of the 2008 Economic Crisis, ChrisB writes,
It’s hard to predict what will be said about this president and this crisis when we’re still trying to figure out what the heck is going on, but I think two things will be emphasized by future historians:
First, the Bush administration called this thing years before it happened. They certainly could have worked harder to prevent the eventual crisis, but they identified at least some of the dangers in the mortgage market years before the crisis was realized and called for reform.
Second, when the crisis hit, Pres. Bush did not cling to his ideology when he thought it was not working. To use his phrase, he opted, right or wrong, for “compassionate” over “conservative.”
The best that Bush’s apologists can hope for when it comes to the economic crisis is that the blame gets spread around. After 9/11, Bush encouraged Americans to go out and shop. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan cut interest rates to 1% and held them there far too long which sparked the housing boom and allowed consumers to use their houses like ATM’s. Until the bubble burst, the administration unabashedly took credit for the debt-fueled economic expansion and constantly touted the record level of home ownership as proof of Bush's economic stewardship. History will confirm that Bush was a cheerleader throughout.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
"After 9/11, Bush encouraged Americans to go out and shop."
ReplyDeleteDumb, but not damaging in and of itself.
"Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan cut interest rates ..."
Which no president has any power over, though he did have power over appointed a Greenspan disciple to carry on his work.
"the administration unabashedly took credit for the debt-fueled economic expansion and constantly touted the record level of home ownership as proof of Bush's economic stewardship."
Every president, takes the credit for whatever good happens because they also get the blame for whatever bad happens.
I don't know why home ownership is considered by both sides to be an intrinsic good.
"History will confirm that Bush was a cheerleader throughout."
Not on this latest bit; he and his have been warning about this for years.
No one outcheered Frank and Dodd.
I don't know that Bush did consider home ownership an intrinsic good. However, wealth distribution became more unequal under Bush, the economic expansion produced fewer jobs than under Clinton, and health insurance became less affordable. Home ownership was about the only thing that Bush could point to as a widely shared economic benefit of his policies.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that Democrats share plenty of blame for ignoring the mounting problems.
I don't think the current economic crisis can really be pinned on W. It actually dates back to the GOP congress of the mid-90's and Clinton. Well, a lot of it does. Some of it dates back even further than that, to the Reagan-era regulatory changes that led to the S&L collapse. This has been a long time coming, with plenty of blame to go around.
ReplyDelete