History of Recession

A HISTORY OF RECESSION IN THE UNITED STATES 1950 TO 2008
Written by: mike kohr 2/12/2008

Criminologists look for patterns to solve and prevent crimes. And in the comparison of the economic records of Democrat and Republican administrations there is a glaring pattern all but ignored by the corporate media. Nine of the last ten recessions have occurred under the direction of Republican economic policy. And proving that history does repeat itself, examine the three greatest slowdowns in US economic history, 1929*, 1982, 2007, all three were attributed to poor economic and tight credit policy, all three featured deregulation and lack of oversight of the financial markets, and all three were presided over by a Republican President.

Recession of 2007-present George W. Bush(R) Greatest downturn since 1929, blamed on lack of regulation of financial markets and collapse of credit markets

Recession of 2001 George W. Bush(R) Began in April of 2001, marked the beginning of greatest deficit spending in all of recorded human history

Recession of 1990-1991 George H.W. Bush(R) Deregulation of Savings and Loan industry led to a collapse and panic, which led to election of Bill Clinton, who produced the greatest increase in jobs and wealth in all of recorded human history

Recession of 1981-1982 Ronald Reagan(R) At the time, the most severe contraction of economy since the Great Depression, massive deficit spending/deregulation of markets, and tight fiscal policy in an effort to kill inflation were blamed for this downturn **

Recession of 1980 2nd & 3rd quarters Jimmy Carter (D) Shortest and least severe slow down, generally attributed to Iranian Revolution and increase in oil prices, led to the election of Ronald Reagan

Recession of 1973-1975 Richard M Nixon(R) OPEC’s increase in oil prices and massive spending in the escalation of war in Vietnam led to stagflation, the second economic crash of Nixon’s administration. Real GDP fell by 4.9%, second greatest drop since 1937.

Recession of 1969-1970 Richard M. Nixon(R) Credited to Nixon’s escalation of and massive spending in Vietnam War and OPEC’s increase in price of oil

Recession of 1960 -1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Noted for high unemployment, low GDP, high inflation JFK ended the recession by stimulating the economy 10 days after taking office

Recession of 1957-1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Eisenhower achieved the dubious distinction of achieving a second economic downturn on his watch, a record later matched by Richard M. Nixon, and George W. Bush

Recession of 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Increased outlays to National defense and restrictive credit policies blamed for this downturn.

There are few things that are certain in life but this economic record of the last 58 years provides one. When a Republican is elected to the White House, there is a 100% chance that the economy will slide into a recession and a 50% chance that two or more recessions will occur.With an unbroken record of fubar, failure and foul up one would expect Republicans to have a (FU) after their names instead of a (R). A (NO) would be more appropriate. Not a single Republican member of Congress voted for President Obama’s 2009 Economic Stimulus plan. The “Know Nothing” Republican Party has a long history of saying no. Not a single Republican House member voted for the creation of Medicare until the final vote, and the creation of Social Security was opposed by many in the Republican Party. Social Security and Medicare, the two most successful poverty reduction programs in US history are not all the Republicans have said no to.

Bill Clinton’s economic stimulus plan of 1993 produced the greatest wealth and job creation in all of recorded human history. Clinton’s economic plan reduced the National Debt by $587 billion, and balanced 5 budgets, exactly 5 times as many balanced budgets as produced by the last five Republican presidents combined.

Not a single Republican House member voted for it.

Here’s what they had to say about Clinton’s Stimulus plan of 1993:

From the Files by David Waldman
(Congress Matters, February 15, 2009)

Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX), CNN, 8/2/93:
“Clearly this is a job killer in the short run…The deficit will be worse,...”

Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA), GOP Press Conference, House TV Gallery, 8/5/93:
“I believe this will lead to a recession next year.”

Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), 5/27/93:
“(This) will lead to more taxes, higher inflation, and slower economic growth.”

Rep. Jim Bunning (R-KY), 8/5/93:
"It will not create jobs."

This from the same know nothing crowd that gave us 9 of the last 10 recessions.

There has been a crime of economic ineptitude perpetrated on the American people. No one seems to see the pattern nor is anyone confronting the stumblebums responsible for it. And they are so easy to spot. They are the one’s saying no.


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*The Great Depression of 1929 Herbert Hoover(R) Lasted for 10 years, blamed on Hoover’s economic policy and lack of regulation of financial markets

** “The Reagan Recession” which ran from July of 1981 thru November of 1982 is often categorized as starting under Carter’s watch during the 1st and 2nd quarters of 1980. By the end of the July of 1980 that mild downturn had ended. Starting in the 3rd quarter of 1980, 3 of the next 4 quarters produced increased GDP. Reagan’s tight fiscal policy and massive deficit spending contracted the economy again in late 1981, producing unemployment of 10.8% and prime interest rates that hovered between 15% and 21.5%

http://recession.org/history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/rec1980.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_United_States#Deregulation:_1974.E2.80.931992

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_1980s_recession

http://economics.about.com/cs/businesscycles/a/depressions.htm