The US dollar performed in a better manner under US president Barack Obama, than his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Supporters of Obama claim that his policies helped the nation recover from a horrible economic crisis, while his opponents claim that his policies significantly slowed the recovery. The numbers will not persuade either side, but they are still quite interesting to examine.
The dollar lost 0.6% per year during Obama’s presidency so far, while it shed 4.4% on average during the Bush era.
This was accompanied by a better stock market performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 17.6% in comparison with an annual loss of 3.5% loss under Bush.
Larry Greenberg compiled the data and has very interesting explanations to the different economic performance, in a deep historic perspective.
The political debate in the US is about employment first, and then about growth. Both presidents under performed regarding employment. Bush oversaw a minimal growth of 0.1% per year, while Obama’s term was worse: contraction of 0.4% per year. This is under the long term of +1.8%.
The global crisis strengthened the dollar, despite the massive rounds of Quantitative Easing (or dollar printing) by the Federal Reserve. The European debt crisis now takes center stage, and other central banks also had their share of various QE programs.
The dollar didn’t become a winner, but stopped the downfall seen earlier.
The US dollar remains a reserve currency for now, despite diversification to other currencies seen in various places in the world. This might change in the future, but this will certainly take time.
Further reading: Gold for Oil: India and Iran Ditch Dollar – Report
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