Personal Injury Law

Off Topic - Should Obama Get Credit for Yesterday's Market Increase?

By John A. Day

All weekend I heard the drone of certain business reporters and various members of the Republican Party  that President Obama was responsible for the declines in the stock market over the last six weeks.

Well, the market went up 5.8% yesterday.  Should the President get the credit for that increase?

Of course not.  And he should not get the blame for what has happened the last six weeks.  The mess we now find ourselves in was created over the last thirty, forty or fifty years by a series of mistakes made by lots of people in the public and private sector.  Anyone who says that they thought  that the economic situation would materially improve in the last six weeks is a simpleton, a lair, or both..

The market losses in the first nine weeks of the year represent the opinions of stock values by the same traders who mis-valued the market over the past decade.  That is, the same irrational conduct that drove stocks up in value in the past couple decades has driven them down in value recently.  Today's low prices and yesterday's high prices are the yin yang of the market, and the real value is somewhere in between.

I am not suggesting I know what the true value of the market or any particular company is.   I wish I did - I could become very wealthy very quickly.  

What I am saying is that anyone who views the daily Dow Jones average as a daily report card on any Administration is a fool.  And, if your foolish enough to get on TV this past weekend and  blame the President for what has happened to the market in the last six weeks, then get on TV today and applaud him for yesterday's work.. 

What's wrong?  Cat got your tongue?

Full post as published by Day on Torts on March 11, 2009 (boomark / email).