I'd like to understand specifically what he did to drive the market (not because his VP created the internet). Tax cuts to spur business investment? Huge government investment in technology? Expanding the investment tax credit? What?
Well, I have a few opinions even though you didn't ask me.
But anyway,
First, and probably most important, Clinton hired an *outstanding* economic team. These were Bob Rubin, Laura Tyson, Mickey Cantor, Robert Reich etc. (different people for two terms). This team successfully navigated a number of economic crises LCTM+Russian Debt, Mexico crisis, Asian Flue etc and the US barely noticed. Rubin guessed what would happen with Mexico for example and he guessed right, every time. There was immense respect for US capital markets in the 90s.
Next, the strong dollar policy. As a result of this policy US equity markets attracted foreign capital which made US equities increase. Since stocks are corporate tender, companies felt rich and were willing to hire. This spurred the economy.
Support of high tech. Clinton/Gore supported high tech and devoted significant time to promoting US high tech industries. Clinton and Gore visited Silicon Valley every other weekend it seemed. Otoh Bush has been here **twice** to collect money.
Yuan and currency float. Clinton negotiated some decent trade deals in the early 90s which were fair. Now, those same agreements are not fair and need to be renegotiated. But in Clinton's time, they were good. Again it comes down to your team, and your teams capability of negotiating with foreign governments. We all know how adept Dubya is at negotiation.
Drug price issues. During Clinton's first term he addressed the issues of drug pricing, wreaking havoc on the drugmakers admittedly who thought they were about to be regulated. The net net was that drugs were voluntarily cheaper, for a time. Clinton also looked at the healthcare crisis but there was no support for a centralized system then. (as opposed to now).
So thats about it. Some people smooth over differences and others have a disruptive influence. Bush is the latter type which is deadly for markets and confidence. Add in his incompetant financial team and you've got a disaster. |
