I say this all the time - but, Clinton wouldn't have been reelected, and wouldn't have been as popular as he was at the end if it were not for two people - Bill Gates and Andy Grove. Those two men are more responsible than anyone in any branch of government for the roaring 90s. It was their technological advancements that drove productivity to the levels it reached; Levels that were previously unattainable because of technological limitations.
The economy was actually growing at a decent pace when Clinton assumed office as the recession had ended before the summer of 1992. Economists just hadn't realized it, and neither had main street, which is why Clinton got elected in the first place - that and Ross Perot.
Having said all that - Newt Gingrich did provide Clinton with a convenient boogieman or foil. So yes, the Gingrich revolution did help Clinton - it allowed him to move toward the middle, and Clinton was smart enough to do it. I don't think Obama is - I really don't.
I agree. But, I think it's a different set of two people: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
Clinton was on his way to being a one-term President before the Oklahoma City terrorist attack. Never being one to let a crisis go to waste, he used the event to demonize his political opposition, even though there was no evidence to support that association.
At the time, I wondered if it was going to be another Reichstag fire.
I agree. But, I think it's a different set of two people: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
Clinton was on his way to being a one-term President before the Oklahoma City terrorist attack. Never being one to let a crisis go to waste, he used the event to demonize his political opposition, even though there was no evidence to support that association.
At the time, I wondered if it was going to be another Reichstag fire.
You and I are on the same wavelength.
Whenever I hear idiots posit Clinton’s great economy, I bring up the Gates/Grove revolution.
Then I explain to these folks, that Clinton, actually sent the Department of Justice after both these guys.
So, the moral of the story is that the productivity gains wrought by MS/Intel - plus all the other hardware/software companies - ignited a Second Industrial Revolution in spite of the Governments/Clinton interference.
Can this be done again?
Maybe, but not at the revolutionary exponential multiplier effect as previous....more evolutionary, IMHO.