More a Carter than a Reagan

In short, while Reagan accepted a great deal of short-term unpopularity, including among members of his party — “He said he would not do something to help the chances of Republicans in Congress in 1982 only to have to see the need for restrictive policies afterward,” said Reagan adviser Jerry Jordan — his unpopular moves laid the groundwork for three decades of unprecedented economic expansion. So far, we have seen no evidence that Obama’s unpopular policies will pay those kinds of dividends. Like Reagan, Obama inherited an economy with structural problems requiring painful adjustments. Unlike Reagan, he has tried to put off those adjustments or cover them up with feel-good stimulus programs. Reaganomics worked. Obamanomics? Let’s just say it will be interesting to see how much longer those trend lines overlap.