The Wall Street Journal ran an entire editorial on this in early March. The drop in the Dow, the WSJ insisted, was a direct result of investors evaluating "Mr. Obama's agenda and his approach to governance." Karl Rove and Lou Dobbs made the same case. So did Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Fred Barnes. John Boehner also pushed the line. It was one of Mitt Romney's favorite talking points for a while, too.
That was nearly two years ago, and wouldn't you know it, they're not saying that anymore. Oliver Willis flagged this chart, showing S&P 500 growth over the first two years of every president since Eisenhower. You'll notice that column all the way over to the right shows a sharp increase under the current president.
Now, it's worth emphasizing that a chart like this one comes with all kinds of caveats. The first and most obvious is that the value of a stock market index is hardly the best metric for measuring the strength of the economy. Indeed, it isn't even close. The second is that it's easier to generate major gains like these when one starts from a very low point -- and after eight years of disastrous Republican policies, Bush bequeathed an economy in shambles.
A chart like this makes it especially difficult to take Wall Street's whining about the president seriously.
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