My previous thread on this topic relied partly on numbers from The Balance website. It turns out that The Balance was not very reliable in this case. They gave erroneous figures for the number of jobs created and for the percentages by which the debt was increased. So this time I am using only data from BLS and TreasuryDirect.
Number of Jobs Created: Data Adjusted for Population Controls
Obama: 9.924,000 (from 142,152,000 employed persons in January 2009 to 152,076,000 employed persons in January 2017)
Bush: 4,374,000 (from 137,778,000 employed persons in January 2001 to 142,152,000 employed persons in January 2009)
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Data (you must change the date range to start in 2001 and end in 2018)
Number of Jobs Created: Seasonally Adjusted
Obama: 9,982,000 (from total employment of 142,099,000 in January 2009 to total employment of 152,081,000 in January 2017)
Bush: 6,100,000 (from total employment of 135,999,000 in January 2001 to total employment of 142,099,000 in January 2009)
Sources: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/history/empsit_02022001.txt; https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02062009.pdf; https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02032017.pdf
Increase in the National Debt: Dollar Amount
Obama: $9.322 trillion (from $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009 to $19.947 trillion on 1/20/2017)
Bush: $4.897 trillion (from $5.728 trillion on 1/22/2001 to $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009)
Source: Debt to the Penny (Daily History Search Application) (you have to enter the dates)
Increase in the National Debt: Percentage
Obama: 87.7% (from $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009 to $19.947 trillion on 1/20/2017)
Bush: 85.3% (from $5.728 trillion on 1/22/2001 to $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009)
Source: Debt to the Penny (Daily History Search Application) (you have to enter the dates; then, just use an online calculator to calculate the percentage of increase)
Overall, Obama did a pretty good job on the economy, by any fair measurement. This is all the more impressive because the worst part of the Great Recession began just as he took office. Obama clearly did a better job on the economy than Bush did. We should remember that Obama signed a slew of new (albeit mostly temporary) tax cuts, and he made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent, against the advice of nearly all liberal economists. Furthermore, Obama also signed the 2015 budget deal, which protected $686 billion in tax cuts/tax breaks and ended the ban on oil exports. These moves undoubtedly helped the economy.
Obama and Bush increased the national debt by just about the same percentage, with Obama edging out Bush by 2.4 percentage points.
For a modestly alternative analysis on Obama's jobs and debt numbers, see FactCheck's article on Obama's record:
Obama's Final Numbers - FactCheck.org
They give him more jobs than I do, but they also give him a much higher percentage of debt increase than I do.
Here are other alternative analyses:
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/econ...arack-obamas-real-economic-record-isnt-pretty
THE VERDICT: A comprehensive look back at Obama's jobs record
Economic Record: President Obama
Obama's Economic Record: Disappointing, But Not a Disaster | RealClearMarkets
Obama's Final Economic Record Not Great
Number of Jobs Created: Data Adjusted for Population Controls
Obama: 9.924,000 (from 142,152,000 employed persons in January 2009 to 152,076,000 employed persons in January 2017)
Bush: 4,374,000 (from 137,778,000 employed persons in January 2001 to 142,152,000 employed persons in January 2009)
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Data (you must change the date range to start in 2001 and end in 2018)
Number of Jobs Created: Seasonally Adjusted
Obama: 9,982,000 (from total employment of 142,099,000 in January 2009 to total employment of 152,081,000 in January 2017)
Bush: 6,100,000 (from total employment of 135,999,000 in January 2001 to total employment of 142,099,000 in January 2009)
Sources: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/history/empsit_02022001.txt; https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02062009.pdf; https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02032017.pdf
Increase in the National Debt: Dollar Amount
Obama: $9.322 trillion (from $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009 to $19.947 trillion on 1/20/2017)
Bush: $4.897 trillion (from $5.728 trillion on 1/22/2001 to $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009)
Source: Debt to the Penny (Daily History Search Application) (you have to enter the dates)
Increase in the National Debt: Percentage
Obama: 87.7% (from $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009 to $19.947 trillion on 1/20/2017)
Bush: 85.3% (from $5.728 trillion on 1/22/2001 to $10.625 trillion on 1/21/2009)
Source: Debt to the Penny (Daily History Search Application) (you have to enter the dates; then, just use an online calculator to calculate the percentage of increase)
Overall, Obama did a pretty good job on the economy, by any fair measurement. This is all the more impressive because the worst part of the Great Recession began just as he took office. Obama clearly did a better job on the economy than Bush did. We should remember that Obama signed a slew of new (albeit mostly temporary) tax cuts, and he made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent, against the advice of nearly all liberal economists. Furthermore, Obama also signed the 2015 budget deal, which protected $686 billion in tax cuts/tax breaks and ended the ban on oil exports. These moves undoubtedly helped the economy.
Obama and Bush increased the national debt by just about the same percentage, with Obama edging out Bush by 2.4 percentage points.
For a modestly alternative analysis on Obama's jobs and debt numbers, see FactCheck's article on Obama's record:
Obama's Final Numbers - FactCheck.org
They give him more jobs than I do, but they also give him a much higher percentage of debt increase than I do.
Here are other alternative analyses:
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/econ...arack-obamas-real-economic-record-isnt-pretty
THE VERDICT: A comprehensive look back at Obama's jobs record
Economic Record: President Obama
Obama's Economic Record: Disappointing, But Not a Disaster | RealClearMarkets
Obama's Final Economic Record Not Great