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[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by miraja2

The idea that Gingrich "made the Clinton years" is a joke.
Also, the idea that Clinton "made the Clinton years" is a joke.

The combination of Silicon Valley and post-Cold War globalization made the 1990s an economically prosperous time for the United States. Did certain governmental actions (NAFTA, etc) help to fuel this growth? Sure, but the economic growth in the 1990s would - in all probability - have happened no matter who the president or the speaker of the house happened to be.

The government - and particularly the president - receive far too much credit and/or blame for how the economy is doing. The government has something to do it, but market forces independent of government involvement are way more important. That's true of the boom of the 1990s, the bust of 2008, and pretty much everything in between.

I wanted to address this but took a late lunch..

I very much agree with most of your post. Maybe I should have said Newt made Clintons legacy instead of presidency.. you are totally right, one man or one group just doesnt have enough power to dictate the economy (though everyone thought / think Bush singlehandidly ruined our economy).

Clintons' popularity jumped up in leaps and bounds after Newt and the Repub congress took over. But yeah, me personally, I think Newt is better than Bill, George and Barack combined (though that may not be saying much).