Bradley Schiller has stated in a Wall Street Journal opinion article today that Obama has turned his fearmongering into an art form. He has continually compared the current econonmic situation to the Great Depression. He has repeatedly said that action must be taken immediately or the economy may be unable to recover (yet he mysteriously is letting the bill sit on his desk until Tuesday… go figure). Honestly, he is invoking fear just as well as Bush did with Iraq.
While the economic situation is not rosy, it is far from The Great Depression but more like the Carter-era recession. Schiller points out that last year we shed 2.2% of the work force. 1981-1982 job force losses were also 2.2%. The Great Depression saw us lose 4.8% in 1930, 6.5% in 1931, and 7.1% in 1932. Our current job losses aren’t even in the ballpark. Current unemployment is 7.6%. The peak in the Carter-era depression was 10.8%. The peak during The Great Depression was 25.2%.
If you stick some evidence alongside the fearmongering, Obama seems to be stretching the evidence far futher than Bush ever did. Is this a trend Obama will continue? It certainly will have a negative effect on the economy as consumers aren’t likely to have their confidence boosted by these heavyhanded fear tactics from our President.
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Posted under Economy
Written by admin on February 16, 2009
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Hi,
in general you are right that the current economic environment is not as bad as during the Great Depression but many like to compare the ‘beginning’ of this recession to the peak of the Great Depression which make more of an apple to orange comparison than an apple to apple comparison.
I totally agree that BHO tries to use his fear tactic to scare the uneducated and that is is simply ridiculous. Another thing Dumb Money does not understand right is that the stimulus will not have any long-term positive impact but long-term negative effects.
The only thing this stimulus will stimulate is the current recession into a depression.
Nice blog!
What? You rightwingers all of a sudden have a problem with fearmongering?
To flip the coin on you with your phraseology, you left wingers all of a sudden don’t have a problem with fear mongering? IMHO, it’s not acceptable simply because the other side did it.
Ha ha. Fear Mongering. Recalling all of the fear mongering before the Patriot Act was invoked. And, continuing along those same lines, I am now recalling the fear mongering that lead up to the $1 trillion war in Iraq. No WMDs to be found.
And let’s discuss the fear mongering committed during the campaign by the right wing nutjob, Palin. Playing on racist fears, making utterly outrageous and ridiculous accusations.
As for your response to Jason, make me laugh. What a completely inane, and utterly disingenuous statement.
Fear mongering in the case of the Republicans involves lies. Large, nasty lies.
Obama is telling the truth, as you might know if you actually bothered to read anything other than right-wing rags.
Inaccurate intel = lies? Overstating could arguably be called lying. People need to get over the falsehood that Bush lied.
I’ve yet to see anyone back up allegations of Palin ‘playing on racist fears’. Some people say that Obama’s connections to terrorists were racial fear mongering, but that is downright absurd. The actions of crowd members (which were denounced by the campaign) should not be attributed to a campaign (I don’t care if it is left or right).
The facts back up that Obama is overstating the economic situation and using the resulting fear to push through an unpopular and likely unsuccessful bill.
Is depression here or not? not very clear. But if you look at the past history recessions and depressions come and go. Economies go through cycles and recession is part of the cycle. I read the history of cycles at http://www.recessioninfocenter.com
so if you tighten up during recession it makes sense
You are kidding right? Things are much worse now than the Carter era recession. Banks weren’t collapsing, car makers weren’t begging the government for loans to keep them in business and we actually made things in this country back then.
Bush took us to war based on lies. That is the real fearmongering.
Once again, it is necessary to point out that Bush did not lie about Iraq. It’s a pity so many people still buy into that debunked myth.
This is in response ‘nicole’, who wrote previously.
Your message reeks of the self-reverential, leftists elitism that most sensible people find disgusting.
You finished your post by saying: “…you might know if you actually bothered to read anything other than right-wing rags…”
Are you implying that anyone who does not agree with your leftist agenda is therefore edifying themselves only with Limbaugh or Coulter???
Not to mention the sheer arrogance and stupidity of this statement you made to the ‘admin’: “…for your response to Jason, make me laugh. What a completely inane, and utterly disingenuous statement…”
Really? So, by your logic (or lack thereof), two wrongs DO make a right. Riiiiiiiiiiiight
The ‘admin’ never denied that Bush used fear-mongering. He simply illustrated that two wrongs DO NOT make a right.
Unless, of course, we are talking to an arrogant, close-minded elitist.