Democratic Presidents Manage the Economy Better Than Republicans

  • Ten of the last eleven recessions have occurred under Republican Presidents.
  • Democratic presidents create more than twice as many jobs per year as Republican Presidents.
  • Republican presidents' deficits are 54% larger than Democrats' and 65% higher as a percent of GDP.
  • GDP grows 75% faster under Democratic Presidents.
  • Business investment has grown twice as fast under Democratic Presidents than under Republican Presidents.
  • Forbes Guest Post (11/7/16): The Economy Does Better Under The Democrats
Data updated for 2020   -   Click on a chart to see the facts
Unemployment, Growth in Federal Spending, Growth in Jobs, Total Deficit, and On-Budget Deficit should be updated,

DEMOCRATS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH


This data is compiled by offsetting a President's Administration by a year to account for the fact that the Federal budget for any given fiscal year is drafted and passed in the previous calendar year. For example, 1993's budget was drafted and passed in 1992, during the Bush administration, so that year is assigned to President Bush in this analysis, even though President Clinton was in office in 1993.

One exception has been made: 2009's ARRA was drafted and passed by the Obama administration, creating $114 billion of Federal outlays for 2009. That amount has been subtracted from President Bush's 2009 budget/deficit total and added to President Obama's.

Since World War 2

  • More than twice as many jobs are created per year under Democratic Presidents than Republican Presidents (1.95 million jobs/year under Democratic Presidents versus 825,500 jobs/year under Republican Presidents.)
  • Budget deficits under Republican Presidents have been $4 trillion more than under Democratic Presidents.
  • Ten of the last eleven recessions have begun under Republican Presidents (www.nber.org/cycles.html)

Since 1962

  • GDP growth has been 75% higher under Democratic Presidents.
  • Business Investment Growth has been 126% higher under Democratic Presidents.
  • Unemployment has been 15% higher under Republican Presidents.
  • Average increase in weekly earnings have been positive under Democratic Presidents and negative under Republican Presidents

Job Growth

Democratic Presidents have helped create 21 million more jobs than Republican Presidents, and on year-to-year basis jobs have grown nearly twice as fast under Democratic Presidents as under Republican Presidents.
  • Total jobs created under Democratic Presidents: 68,312,000
  • Total jobs created under Republican Presidents: 32,194,000
  • Average yearly growth in jobs under Democratic Presidents: 1,952,000
  • Average yearly growth in jobs under Republican Presidents:     825,500

GDP Growth

Real Gross Domestic Product growth under Democratic Presidents has been 75% higher than during Republican Presidents.
  • Average GDP growth per year under Democratic Presidents: 3.50%
  • Average GDP growth per year under Republican Presidents: 2.02%

Business Investment Growth

Real business investment growth under Democratic Presidents has been 126% higher than under Republican Presidents.
  • Average growth per year under Democratic Presidents: 6.6%
  • Average growth per year under Republican Presidents: 2.92%

Federal Budget Deficits

Federal budget deficits under Republican Presidents collectively are 54% higher than under Democratic Presidents (as a percentage of GDP, Republican Presidents have been 65% higher than Democratic Presidents).
  • Democratic Presidents' annual deficits averaged 2.07% of GDP
  • Republican Presidents' annual deficits averaged 3.42% of GDP
  • Total Democratic Budget Deficits: $8,085.1 billion
  • Total Republican Budget Deficits: $12,442.5 billion

Unemployment

Unemployment under Republican Presidents has been 15% higher than under Democratic Presidents.
  • Average unemployment per year during Democratic Presidents: 5.59%
  • Average unemployment per year during Republican Presidents: 6.43%

Growth In Spending

Federal Spending has increased twice as fast under Republican Presidents than under Democratic Presidents
  • Democratic Presidents' annual spending increased by an average of $36.9 billion per year
  • Republican Presidents' annual spending increased by an average of $78.6 billion per year

Balance of Trade

Trade deficits under Republican Presidents have been 39% higher than under Democratic Presidents.
  • Total trade deficit under Democratic Administrations (in millions): $5,625,690
  • Total trade deficit under Republican Administrations (in millions): $7,042,879

*Jere Glover has been collecting and publishing this data since 1980, 21st Century has been publishing the data on its website for 10 years.
Data compiled here come from official government sources such as Statistical Abstracts of the United States, the Economic Reports of the President, and the US Census Bureau.
Contact: Jere Glover, 21st Century Democrats, jerewglover@msn.com