Reply #30: Bush didn't take office until January 2001 [View All]

[Psephos]

The stock market slide began under Clinton, after the Dow peaked on January 14, 2000. The wheels started coming off the tech bubble in Spring of 2000...NASDAQ was where the real evaporation happened, as more than half of total NASDAQ value disappeared. IMnotsoHO, Clinton didn't have a lot to do with either the build-up of the bubble, nor the meltdown, although both happened while he was President. Bubble behavior is a mass psychological behavior that owes little to the actions of the Chief Executive.

See Tulipomania for a good exploration of a previous bubble.

http://www.amazon.com/Tulipomania-Coveted-Extraordinary-Passions-Aroused/dp/060980765X/sr=8-2/qid=1159942579/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-2720660-8775239?ie=UTF8&s=books

It's also worth remembering that 9/11 was a powerful suppressant of the stock market, especially during late 2001 and most of 2002.

Might want to keep those dates in mind if you bring this up with a wingnut. Your larger point remains quite valid. :-)

Bush is a fiscal douchebag and his drunken sailor spending habits have cost a lot of upside in the market. Notice that the market is only peaking now that interest rate increases appear to have leveled off (and oil is cooling down). Deficit spending drives up the cost of borrowing money, which dampens capital availability for business investment. These profligate repugs are on their way out...but we'll be paying for their recklessness for a long time to come, not only in national debt interest, but also in foregone appreciation in the stock market, and in growth of the GNP.

Peace.