We routinely praise President Clinton for the economic growth that occurred during his presidency, and we are constantly criticizing President Bush for all of the jobs that have been lost thus far in his presidency. I question the extent to which presidential action has a real, immediate impact on the job market, but, then again, I also question the extent to which I really understand how any of this "economics stuff" works.
My questions are these: Are we hypocritical if we don't give President Bush the credit for March's jobs numbers? Does it mean that his policies really are working? I know that one month does not a jobs rally make, and I am anybody-but-Bush all the way. However, if we are going to criticize him for falling job numbers do we then have to praise him for rising numbers? If the number has nothing to do with President Bush's policies, what caused the increase?
I am sure that there are people out there who have a much better handle on this stuff than I do. What's the story?