The Dow Jones industrial average closed below 7,000 today. The last time the most well-known financial index was that low it was on its way up and Bill Clinton was president. Glenn Reynolds helpfully provides us with this chart marking the Dow's decline since President Barack Obama took charge of the economy.
Starting the graph the day after Barack Obama was elected, it shows an even more extensive drop.
About the only thing that can be said is that President Obama's economic plans don't appear to be inspiring confidence in the investor class. Considering the fact that many Americans have at least some portion of their retirement savings in the market through 401(k)s or 403(b)s or other IRA funds, that's a substantial majority of Americans.
President Obama can continue to blame his predecessor, but at some point only the Kool-Aid drinkers will continue to believe that. Soon, Obama will own this economy.
A few weeks ago, I thought the bottom was 6,000. A few weeks ago, I thought it would take many more months before we broke 7,000. Now, I think the bottom may be 5,000. Some are far more pessimistic than I am.
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