PrintFebruary 28, 2009
Blaming Bush: Insanity or Lack of Integrity?
The media will blame this on Bush. But facts are facts. Here is a fact from the Wall Street Journal:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 119.15 points, or 1.7%, to end at 7062.93. The blue-chip benchmark ended down 937.93 points, or 11.72% on the month -- the worst percentage drop for February since 1933, when it fell 15.62%.
When someone tells me that the stock market is responding to the absence of the bad economic policies of G. W. Bush -- policies that no longer exist and are no longer relevant (either rationally or empirically) -- I, for one, wonder about that person’s sanity.
Now consider this:
The Dow industrials have fallen six months in a row and are now more than 50% off their record highs hit in October of 2007.
The S&P 500 fell 17.74 points, or 2.4%, to 735.09. Its financial sector dropped 6.5% and its health-care sector sank 4% on fears that President Barack Obama's reform plans will carve into the profits of drug makers and insurers. The S&P is off 53% from its October 2007 peak and has now seen its worst six-month drop in percentage terms -- 42.7% -- since 1932, when it dropped 45.44% in the six months ending in June.
The S&P 500 fell 17.74 points, or 2.4%, to 735.09. Its financial sector dropped 6.5% and its health-care sector sank 4% on fears that President Barack Obama's reform plans will carve into the profits of drug makers and insurers. The S&P is off 53% from its October 2007 peak and has now seen its worst six-month drop in percentage terms -- 42.7% -- since 1932, when it dropped 45.44% in the six months ending in June.
When someone tells me that the S&P has seen its worst six month lose since 1932 and that the lose was the result of Bush leaving office (not the distinct possibility, followed by the reality of Obama taking office) … I do not question their sanity. I question their integrity.
And so should you.
