Those of us who have paid attention and have no reason to try to prop up or idolize our first black president are aware that the economy has been flat.
What I saw happen is that the financial news was full of hope for the first couple of years after Obama was elected. They kept talking about “green shoots” as if everything was poised to take off. Never mind that Obama did not have a single policy that would have fueled an economic surge; all he did was massively increase the national debt—an economic weight that holds everything down.
When the economy kept failing to skyrocket as the liberal financial reporters kept predicting, they quietly dropped the predictions and just began writing as if the economy was good, regardless of its actual condition. But people who paid attention and read between the lines could still see the truth.
I saw it in my daily commute. The freeway that I took to work used to have a traffic jam 4 days out of 5 at one particular section during the Bush years. I moved out of the area for 3 years, and when I came back in 2011, that same stretch of freeway hardly ever had a traffic jam. From being congested in that stretch 4 days out of 5, it dropped to having congestion maybe 1 day out of 10. And throughout Obama’s administration, the traffic never got worse—meaning that people who had lost their jobs remained unemployed, that truckers were carrying fewer goods along the logistical routes—all of which causes decreased traffic.
I look forward to the Trump recovery (but not the recovery traffic).
Throughout the mid-Atlantic, small businesses continue to fold and shutter. There is little commerce apparent. Sad.
TC
I’ve heard the same regarding train access to Manhattan from northeastern NJ; a lot less people on the trains. When they tried to push for the building of a new tunnel under the Hudson River (makework for unions), because there was really no need anymore they were reduced to saying the additional tunnel would help people WHO WANTED TO SEE A BROADWAY SHOW.
15 years ago the death toll at the World Trade Center was reduced by the amount of vacant office space in the buildings; there has been no recovery since then in the NYC metro area. That is why there are so many advocates for sanctuaries for illegals here; the Americans and the companies that employed them are leaving, and the gubmint free sh!t is the “new normal” economy here for increasing numbers of people. Keeps the classrooms, housing, and Wal-Mart aisles full...
LOL! I have seen the same thing with Houston traffic. If business is good, traffic is awful. If business is bad, there is no traffic problem.