GeeDP

Are you better off now than you were four years ago?  

The question was made famous by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter. Not a bad question to ask when considering who to vote for. Nothing is that simple, but still, a logical place to start.  

The economy seems to be the primary concern for most voters. Sure, we all have other issues that are important to us, but, lest we be called "stupid", which could happen thanks to Bill Clinton's campaign mantra against George Bush in 1980, we will begin our look at whether we are better off now than we were four years by looking at the economy.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a statistical indicator of the health of the economy of a country.  It is the sum of the market value of the goods and services produced by the economy.

In the first quarter of 2008, George W. Bush's last year in office, the growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was -1.8%.  That's right. Negative 1.8%.  

Four years later, In the first quarter of this year, the percentage of growth in the  GDP was 2.2%.  That is positive 2.2 percent.

Are we better off in the most widely used indicator of the health of the economy?  Without question.

If you want to look a little later in 2008, things look even rosier now.  The growth rate in the GDP in the last quarter of 2008 was -8.9%.  That's right. Negative 8.9 percent.

President Obama took office the third week in January, 2009.  In that quarter, the GDP was still negative, but 2.2% better at -6.7 %. By the third quarter of Obama's first year, the GDP was back in positive territory, where it has remained.

Only one quarter in 2008 yielded a positive growth rate in GDP, that being the second quarter in which the GDP grew at a red-hot 1.3 %.

Three quarters in 2008 produced negative growth in America's GDP. Three negative quarters. One year.

President Obama has only had two quarters of negative growth in the GDP since he has been in office.  One of them was the first quarter, which he shared with the previous administration.

Is economy better off than it was four years ago? 

Without question.

Unless you just want to assume otherwise.

.