Quote:I don't think it means a damn thing.  Financial crises and economic crashes are usually years in the making, and whether the crash occurred during this administration or that one, the factors that cause these things are often completely independent of the political situation.   Of course, blame has to be cast, but very often, it's a long term situation and no one saw the crash coming, except for the usual people who make a living predicting "the coming crash of xxxx".  

 

I think it's a myth that politicians can cause crashes, or really affect the economy meaningfully.  It's usually natural forces completely outside the control of the political class that cause booms and busts.  In my opinion, Presidents and politicians get too much credit and too much blame for what happens in the economy.  

 

When it comes to booms and busts, I give a lot more credit to inventions like microchips, personal computers, fracking, subprime mortgage backed securities, credit default swaps, stuff like that.   If the economy booms, the party in power takes credit.   If the economy slumps, the party out of power blames the party in power.   It's like taking credit for the weather.