More often than not, debate is not informed by data, especially if it originates form a clash between ideologies. In response, I started a new semi-regular piece in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News that I call "By the Numbers," where I present data in the form of a plot or table on a topical subject. It appears in the spot often used for political comics in the opinion section, but does not espouse an opinion. Below is my submission that appeared in the
January 3, 2019 issue.
Obama vs Trump Stock Performance
Percentage change of S&P 500 from
inauguration day to the end of the second calendar year of the presidential
term. Net change: Obama Term #1: +56.2%. Obama Term #2: +38.6%. Trump: +10.4%.
Aside from the crash around Day 50 following the burst housing bubble,
the performance of the S&P 500 for both Obama terms exceeded Trump’s market
performance to date
We all know that correlation does not imply causation, so such a graph of stock performance is not an indication of a president's success in economic policy. But since Trump uses the stock market as a measure of his success, I thought it would be useful to show the actual data. By Trump's own measure, he pales in comparison to Obama.
Stay tuned for more data.
