Obama's False History

Obama’s False History

Today, President Obama said, “It has typically taken countries up to ten years to recover from financial crises of this magnitude.” In truth, however, the historical norm has been as follows: the deeper the recession, the stronger the recovery. 


For example, having inherited the Great Depression when he took office in 1933, FDR presided over what was probably the greatest year of peacetime economic growth in American history in 1936. According to the Obama administration’s own Bureau of Economic Analysis (see “Percent change from preceding period”), real (inflation-adjusted) growth in the gross domestic product was a whopping 13.1 percent in 1936.  So far in 2012 (according to that same source), it has been 1.9 percent under Obama.  In 2011, it was 1.7 percent.

It’s true that, in 1938, America plunged into the second deep trough of the Great Depression. But at least under Roosevelt, we experienced a blend of peaks and troughs. Four years under Obama has been like one continuous, uninterrupted walk along the floor of a canyon.

In his speech, Obama also asserted, “Our economy started growing again six months after I took office. And it has continued to grow for the last three years.”