Posted by Great article! on May 15, 2003 at 10:23:38:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: From Today's NYTimes posted by Bill on May 15, 2003 at 09:53:16:
Durn, this is getting pretty "un-tuba-related", but...
Quoting the article:
On top of ... the [9-11]attacks, the U.S. was rocked by a series of revelations about massive corporate wrongdoing [during the WJC admin, prosecuted by Bush admin]at companies ranging from Enron Corp. to WorldCom Inc., raising questions about whether profits had been overstated across Corporate America. And as ... allegations of insider trading and tax evasion hit ... ImClone Systems (IMCL ), Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO ), and Tyco International (TYC ), confidence in corporate leadership also plummeted. And all that was followed by a massive stock market slide. If ever a single year's events should have sent the economy into a tailspin, this was it.
But while the economy is still struggling, it has fared far better over the past year than almost anyone believed possible. [emphasis added by JDB]
The article describes tough times ahead, and the difficulty of making the right decisions with limited info. It speaks of the economic hardship that can come of trying to fight a war while simultaneously expanding social programs (Q for the class: if we have to pick, which is the more important role for government?); but I don't see anything that credibly criticizes the job Bush is doing. On the contrary, I think it makes me more appreciative of what he's accomplished.
As for WJC, he did the same thing to the economy that he did to the White House: he messed it up on his way out so his successor would have to deal with it. On both counts, Bush declined to affix the blame (I think he should have) but simply and quietly began the cleanup.
Joe Baker, who is not sure where Bill is going with this.