90 Miles From Tyranny

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Here’s some advice to the White House: it might be time for President Obama to cancel the rest of his
economic “mission accomplished” tour and help figure out how to get the U.S. growing again.

The Department of Commerce delivered the miserable news Wednesday morning that economic growth nearly ground to a halt during the first quarter, up a microscopic 0.2 percent. Even more disturbing, because the population is growing at about 0.8 percent, real per capita GDP is actually negative. Remember we also had an abysmal jobs growth number for March.

Once again economists blamed the frigid and blizzard conditions on the East Coast; and no doubt weather was a factor in the subpar performance.

But this is a long-term pattern under Obama, not a seasonal blip. Back in 2009, Vice President Biden promised us a “Summer of Recovery” and nearly six years later we are all still eagerly waiting for it.

The tepid growth rate so far in 2015 merely extends the track record of the 23 quarter post-Great Recession recovery. The annualized growth rate of 2.24 percent dead last compared to the six other recoveries since 1960, which averaged 3.97 percent after 23 quarters. This translates into nearly $1.7 trillion (in constant 2009 dollars) in absent economic growth.

But the more amazing comparison is that of the Reagan—which trounces this current so-called recovery. That recovery’s sizzling 4.8 percent annualized growth through 23 quarters was more than twice the rate of the current recovery. In other words, for every $1 of economic growth experienced during the present time, the Reagan recovery produced more than $2. As a result, the Reagan recovery gap now stands at a record $2.48 trillion of real annual GDP (in 2009 dollars). The economy is now more than...