From the Wall Street Journal Editorials,  About That Obama Boom:

Speaking of weak, growth for all of 2016 clocked in at 1.6%, the slowest since 2011 and down from 2.6% in 2015. That marks the 11th consecutive year that GDP growth failed to reach 3%, the longest period since the Bureau of Economic Analysis began reporting the figure. The fourth quarter also rings out the Obama era with an average annual growth rate of 1.8%, which is right down there with George W. Bush for the lowest among modern Presidents.

Mr. Obama inherited a deep recession, but that makes the 2.1% growth average since the recession ended all the more dismaying. You have to work hard to suppress growth after a deep downturn, and Mr. Obama did that by putting income redistribution ahead of growth as a policy priority. He achieved the remarkable feat of slower growth and more inequality.

HKO

It was foolish to think that central planning and social justice would inevitably lead to economic growth.  If anything , the reverse is true.

Obama’s plan required much greater friction costs that stilted growth, yet kept an expensive welfare state that requires growth to maintain.

Actually slower growth with greater inequality is not remarkable, but expected.

print