JUSTIN FOX: Which US president had the best growth record? It depends on how you look at it
There are lots of factors that determine economic growth rates other than who is in the White House
It was the whopping-yet-still-disappointing 6.5% annualised growth number for the second quarter that got most of the attention when the US gross domestic product report came out last week . But the data release from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis also included revisions to GDP and related measures back to 1999, making this an opportune time to take another look at economic growth under Donald Trump and his predecessors.
This is, let’s be clear from the start, not a perfect way of measuring presidential economic performance. There are lots of things that determine economic growth rates other than who is in the White House, and when a president does make a difference, the results may be felt long after he’s left Washington. Still, it’s a widely used metric and Trump was downright obsessed with it, so here goes...
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