President Bush boasted yesterday that his economic policies had led to a record 52 months of consecutive job growth. The WSJ dutifully reported the boast. It didn't bother to point out that President Bush has the worst record on job growth of any post-war president, with the most recent jobs report pushing the rate of job growth in his administration below the dismal record under his dad. The economy creates jobs. It's just like the sun rising. Unfortunately, people are more familiar with the pattern of sun rises than they are with economic trends, that is why reporters are supposed to explain to readers that boasts like the one made by President Bush are ridiculous. I have pasted below the rate of annual job growth under the presidents since 1960: Kennedy-Johnson -- 3.3% Nixon-Ford -- 1.9% Carter -- 3.0% Reagan -- 2.1% Bush I -- 0.6% Clinton -- 2.4% Bush II --0.6% (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.) If reporters actually did some analysis and pointed out the reality behind such nonsense boasts, then politicians like President Bush would not make them.
--Dean Baker
