Of all the frustrating political canards in Frustrating Political Canard Land, perhaps the most infuriating is the notion that Republican presidents—who are demonstrably awful for the economy—are more effective economic stewards than Democrats because they’re known for being more fiscally conservative.
For some reason, we’re forced to go through this same inane, painful farce every time a Democrat occupies the Oval Office for more than 30 seconds. Because somehow, when Republicans no longer hold the White House, voters miraculously forget all the deep recessions and related economic catastrophes they’ve presided over. In seemingly no time, they return to their default assumption that Republicans hold the secret formula for growth, job creation, and lower deficits. In fact, this misapprehension continues to bedevil us election cycle after election cycle, even though 10 of the past 11 recessions began under Republican presidents.
Of course, voters’ assumption that Republican presidents are good for the economy is wrong for a lot of reasons, with the principal ones being the past, the present, and the future.
