The OP doesn't speak of the biggest problem Bush faced - and it was a very real problem that explains his abysmal job growth.
He inherited a middle class that - because of globalization and Supply Side Economics - didn't have the purchasing power to consume at the needed levels to sustain economic growth. As a result the economy became increasingly dependent upon bubbles and credit. Put simply American families were having to borrow too much in order to buy things, and this resulted in a debt-overhang (in the aggregate) that severely weakened their buying power. As a result the capitalist had less incentive to bring products to market because there were not enough solvent consumers. This meant the capitalist increasingly put his surplus capital into speculative bubbles, which were fueled by debt. Meaning: they literally fabricated high returns out of credit inflated asset bubbles until the system blew up and eviscerated millions of jobs.
Here's the kind of thing the OP doesn't know. In 1980 we decided that Capital was over-burdened by the world's highest labor costs and strictest regulations. So we began an era of deregulation (which devolved into regulatory capture) and we also waged war on unions (reducing their number to under 10% of the private sector economy). To further help suppliers, we globalized production so that, for instance, our largest retailer - Walmart - could move production to Chinese sweatshops. Made In China. The result of this shift was that Americans traded high paying manufacturing jobs for low-wage/no-benefit retail jobs. This meant that the middle class, having lost their high wage jobs, over-relied on credit to buy things . . . which eventually took its toll as too many consumers became too indebted to consume.
Reagan and Clinton experienced impressive economic booms. However, after the dust settled, we realized that morning in America was largely driven by a dangerous expansion of credit (debt). This hurt the GWBush economy because he inherited a middle class that was tapped out. This is why the Bush economy expanded credit to the non-credit worthy - because the economy ran out of credible borrowers and Bush didn't want to face the consequences of reduced consumer spending. . . so he expanded credit to people without jobs or collateral . . . and he grew the largest asset bubble in this nation's history . . . and his friends in the financial industry realized untold trillions . . . until the bubble burst
(and the result was the largest meltdown in nearly a century)
He inherited a middle class that - because of globalization and Supply Side Economics - didn't have the purchasing power to consume at the needed levels to sustain economic growth. As a result the economy became increasingly dependent upon bubbles and credit. Put simply American families were having to borrow too much in order to buy things, and this resulted in a debt-overhang (in the aggregate) that severely weakened their buying power. As a result the capitalist had less incentive to bring products to market because there were not enough solvent consumers. This meant the capitalist increasingly put his surplus capital into speculative bubbles, which were fueled by debt. Meaning: they literally fabricated high returns out of credit inflated asset bubbles until the system blew up and eviscerated millions of jobs.
Here's the kind of thing the OP doesn't know. In 1980 we decided that Capital was over-burdened by the world's highest labor costs and strictest regulations. So we began an era of deregulation (which devolved into regulatory capture) and we also waged war on unions (reducing their number to under 10% of the private sector economy). To further help suppliers, we globalized production so that, for instance, our largest retailer - Walmart - could move production to Chinese sweatshops. Made In China. The result of this shift was that Americans traded high paying manufacturing jobs for low-wage/no-benefit retail jobs. This meant that the middle class, having lost their high wage jobs, over-relied on credit to buy things . . . which eventually took its toll as too many consumers became too indebted to consume.
Reagan and Clinton experienced impressive economic booms. However, after the dust settled, we realized that morning in America was largely driven by a dangerous expansion of credit (debt). This hurt the GWBush economy because he inherited a middle class that was tapped out. This is why the Bush economy expanded credit to the non-credit worthy - because the economy ran out of credible borrowers and Bush didn't want to face the consequences of reduced consumer spending. . . so he expanded credit to people without jobs or collateral . . . and he grew the largest asset bubble in this nation's history . . . and his friends in the financial industry realized untold trillions . . . until the bubble burst
(and the result was the largest meltdown in nearly a century)
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