Despite conservative claims otherwise, the evidence seems to be mounting that the Obama Presidency has been good for business. What’s a little less clear is if he’s boosted the rest of us.
The latest sign? President Barack Obama is just the fifth president in the 84-year history of the S&P 500 index to see it double during his term, according to The New York Times. While it’s true Obama’s ability to join this elite club may have been helped by the fact that he took office during a crisis, as the NYTimes notes, America’s stock markets have done better than those of any of the next nine largest economies since early 2009.
Indeed, stocks jumped 85 percent during Obama’s first term and the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well as the S&P 500 have both hit record highs under Obama.
In addition, corporate profits soared 171 percent during Obama’s first term, more than any other president since World War II, according to Bloomberg. Measured a few other ways: In January, corporate profits were at their highest level relative to the size of the economy since the government began keeping record and twice as high as their peak during Ronald Reagan’s administration, Bloomberg found.
Though Obama has reaped huge gains for Corporate America, his economy hasn’t been as great for us normals. We’re still in the throws of the slowest job-market recovery since World War II, with nearly 12 million Americans unemployed. In addition, wages have largely stagnated and millions of homeowners are still suffering from the housing crash, burdened by owing more money on their homes than they’re worth.
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