 |
The chart shows unemployment and consumer confidence 14 months after the end of the 1981-82 and 2007-2009 recessions, and average GDP growth for the four quarters following the end of each recession. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Conference Board
"We now know the recession ended just as the stimulus money started to get spent. According to the White House's own 100-day stimulus report, issued at the end of May 2009, only $45.6 billion in spending and tax relief had gone out the door by then. In other words, less than 6 percent of the stimulus money was in the economy as the recession ended, making its role in stopping the downward spiral somewhat murky.
This news also makes it harder for Obama to blame President Bush for the nation's current economic troubles.
Obama rightly notes that he was handed a terrible economy. But now we learn that the recession he inherited was just five months away from being over when he took office. So while Obama doesn't own the recession in any way, shape or form, he certainly owns the recovery, which is now well into its 15th month.
