ECONOMY: Good news has little to do with Obama's policies

Re: “Obama’s policies are clunkers” (TNT, 9-6).

This excellent letter created quite a stir among Obama supporters who wrote three rebuttal letters. The original letter writer was absolutely correct in his analysis of Obama’s policies. The rebuttal writers couldn’t be more wrong.

The economy has not been on a steady climb since 2010. It has been stagnating at an annualized GDP growth rate of around 2.2 percent over the 23 quarters post-Great Recession. Other recoveries since 1960 have averaged around 4 percent.

The stock market boom had virtually nothing to do with Obama’s policies and everything to do with the Federal Reserve holding interest rates at zero percent for the past 80 months. The energy boom and accompanying lower gas prices are a result of the private sector using new fracking technology, not Obama’s policies. The Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to stymie fracking with increased regulations.

The unemployment rate has decreased because millions of teenagers, millennials (40 percent of the unemployed) and adults have given up looking for work. The labor participation rate is at a 30-year low.

You don’t need research to know about the struggling economy. We read about it every day in The News Tribune.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 11:59 AM with the headline "ECONOMY: Good news has little to do with Obama's policies."