Democrats are Better for the Economy

Princeton University Political Science Professor Larry M. Bartel is causing a stir in the blogosphere with his new book "Unequal Democracy" which will be available June 2008. The matter at hand actually is a chart that visually plots the how the economy differs under Democrat or Republican Administrations. The books purpose is to show that the "increasing inequality [between the rich and poor] is not simply the result of economic forces, but the product of broad-reaching policy choices in a political system dominated by partisan ideologies and the interests of the wealthy."

The chart illustrates that income growth during Democratic presidencies is more beneficial to the poor but higher for everyone as whole compared to those of Republican administrations. Democrats as opposed to Republicans, are better on economic growth and distribution for Americans. It seems odd that there is data that supports this since the first lesson I learned in my American politics class was that the President has little control over economic policies. In fact, most policy does not have enough time to have a direct impact within an administrations tenure. This is perhaps the most perplexing issue with the chart.

Ezra Klein at The American Prospect theorizes that perhaps, "It may be that the election of Democratic executives happens, in general, in times when the culture is trending in a more egalitarian direction, and so the Democrat is being elected for the same reason distribution is improving. And, conversely, it can be the example set by presidents -- as when Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers to usher in the era of union busting, or Bush cut taxes for the rich and opposed increases in the minimum wage -- that help steel the will of the greedy and lower the working class's expectations and estimation of their own power."

Whatever is the reason why Americans as whole do much better under a Democratic Administration, the real question is: How do Republicans explain that the economy suffers under their power? As Dick Gephardt once said, "If you want to live like a Republican, you have to vote for Democrats."