According to a recent report by the Department of Commerce, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased only 0.5% in the first quarter of 2016. This figure represents the lowest increase in the past two years and the third consecutive year beginning with a negative economic report.
In fact, the economic stagnation of the Obama Administration dates back beyond the past 3 years. The average GDP in the past seven years was 1.32 percent. In comparison, during the Reagan years, the GDP was 3.5 per cent per year.
Despite reports, President Obama has defended his economic achievements multiple times. On one occasion, during a visit to Cleveland (Ohio) on his first presidential term, Obama highlighted the economic progress of his administration and said that all Americans should be “proud”. Later, the President added: “we know the recipe for growth”.
Recently, Barack Obama compared the United States with other countries that have had similar economic crises. The President patted himself on the shoulder and said that he probably handled the problem “better than any economy in the world in modern times”. In another prideful moment, Obama said that he had “saved the world from the great depression”.
The President’s comments completely differ from reality. Barack Obama, during his two terms, has amply demonstrated that he knows the recipe for debt, unemployment and economic stagnation. At the time of this writing, the United States has accumulated a national debt of 19 trillion dollars, has 94 million people out of the labor force and has been unable to reach a 3% GDP growth for 7 consecutive years; and all of this occurring after the most expensive financial bailout in the history of the country.
Furthermore, the current Administration has broken records in collecting revenue from taxpayers. In the first half of the fiscal year, the government collected $ 1.48 trillion, this amount coming from individual and corporate taxes. During the same period, the government spent $ 1.94 trillion. The result: 461 billion dollars in deficit. Remember, this is only half of the current fiscal year.
And this is not all. According to the Department of Labor; only 160,000 jobs were added to the economy in April. This figure was lower than expected and represents one of the worst economic indexes in the past 8 years.
Despite reports, the Obama administration paints another picture. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently informed that the unemployment rate is below 5%. At this point, an obvious question arises among Americans: It is possible to have less than 5% unemployment rate when the GDP is as low as 0.5% and more than 90 million people are out of the labor force?
At this rate, it is unlikely that any measure taken by the President will overcome the economic stagnation or reduce the deficit that the country has experienced for more than 7 years.
If the same trend continues, when Obama finishes his second term in 8 months, he will become the first President in the history of the country who could not achieve a growth higher than 3% in any year of his mandate.
The Obama administration has proven once more an undeniable fact: socialist policies do not work.
