One reason that job growth has been slow is that productivity increases have been astronomical -- 8.1 percent in the last quarter. That means the economy can produce more with less, a wondrous thing that benefits the economy and eventually the job market, too. Already, the employment rate has ticked down from 6.1 percent to 6 percent, a level that was considered good as recently as the mid-1990s, when Clinton was already touting his own economic genius.
Which is just one reason that the Hoover sound bite is unlikely to resonate with voters: It is absurdly disconnected from reality. Yes, it makes sense to compare the Bush and Hoover economic records. If, that is, you put aside the fact that Bush's record is lacking the decline in gross national product of 9.4 percent, 8.5 percent and 13.4 percent three years running, the 80 percent decline in the value of industrial stocks, the failure of almost half the banks, the collapse of capital investment, the catastrophic drop in international trade, and the 23.6 percent unemployment rate. In other words, it makes no sense at all.
The odd thing about the Hoover-obsessed Democrats is that they are the ones advocating Hooverite economic policies. Under Hoover, the top income-tax rate went from 25 percent to 63 percent, and 40 percent tariffs were imposed on imports. Most Democratic presidential candidates, including front-runner Howard Dean, support tax increases and protectionism. One of the few Democratic free-traders, Sen. Joe Lieberman, recently warned that if these policies were put into effect, "the Bush recession would be followed by the Dean depression." Which would be the first time the country suffered a depression since ...