“If You Want To Live Like A Republican . . .

by Stuart Shapiro

. . . vote for a Democrat.”  The quote, usually attributed to President Truman, is gaining currency again as the stock market surges under the stewardship of President Obama.  The historical record:

The BGOV [Bloomberg Government] Barometer shows that, over the five decades since John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, $1,000 invested in a hypothetical fund that tracks the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) only when Democrats are in the White House would have been worth $10,920 at the close of trading yesterday.

That’s more than nine times the dollar return an investor would have realized from following a similar strategy during Republican administrations. A $1,000 stake invested in a fund that followed the S&P 500 under Republican presidents, starting with Richard Nixon, would have grown to $2,087 on the day George W. Bush left office.

Now to be fair and balanced, the analysis becomes more complicated when you add control of Congress into the picture (surprisingly divided government does not do better than single party control) but the big difference remains control of the executive branch.  So all you plutocrats out there, get with the program and start donating to the President!

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.