The recession Obama was handed was much more complex than anything Reagan had to deal with. The 2007 recession, the Great Recession, was the worst of all time, next to the depression. The recession revealed a number of structural problems with our economy, a greater divide between the rich and the poor and an economy in transition.
The late President Ronald Reagan looms large over this year's presidential election. GOP candidates invoke him as the visionary who revived a flattened economy with lower taxes, easier regulations and smaller government. That's what the economy needs today to bring back the growth of the 1980s, say his acolytes. Yet the Republican argument leaves out one important factor: President Barack Obama's recession is a lot more complicated than the one Reagan tussled with in 1981.Watch this 2 minute video, which charts the recessions throughout history. You'll note how severe the 2007 recession was, compared to Reagan's recession. The recession during Reagan's time was sunshine and rainbows compared with what Obama had to deal with:
Superficially, their predicaments are similar. Both presided over economic downturns considered to be the worst since the Great Depression. They lost congressional support in midterm elections and were presiding over economic recoveries as they geared up for re-election campaigns. Read more at Bloomberg
Haley Barbour tried to equate the Reagan recession with the 2007 recession, the one Obama was handed. This makes me livid, because he knows better, but he thinks the rest of us don't. The mainstream media lacks the business, financial and economic savvy to call republicans on their claims.
