The Blogfather Speaks

Don Luskin of NRO repeats a speech he made recently to the National Organization of Investment Professionals on his blog:

http://poorandstupid.com/chronicle.asp

An excerpt on the economy, and the tax cuts that are the reason behind the success:

"Let's start with the stock market. From the recession bottom to April 2003, the S&P 500 actually lost 18%. Since April 2003, the S&P 500 has gained 51%. Now that's a bull market -- but you just have to start at the right place.

From the recession bottom to April 2003, 1.03 million payroll jobs were lost, and the unemployment rate actually went up from 5.5% to 6.0%. Talk about a jobless recovery! But since April 2003, payroll jobs have increased by 5.11 million, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.7%.

From the recession bottom to April 2003, real GDP grew 3.2%. Since April 2003, it has grown 11.3%. From the recession bottom to April 2003, S&P 500 earnings increased only 7%. Since April 2003, earnings have grown 59%. From the recession bottom to April 2003, manufacturers' new orders fell 5%. Since April 2003, they have increased by 38%.

From the recession bottom to April 2003, non-residential fixed investment fell 1%. Since April 2003, it has increased by 35%. And here's the most remarkable of all. From the recession bottom to April 2003, federal income tax receipts fell by 11%. Since April 2003, they have increased by 26%, and now stand at all time record highs.

Think about that one for a second. We cut taxes on personal incomes, capital gains, and dividends -- and tax receipts went up.

Let's hear it for voodoo economics. It works."

He also appears to agree with this gentleman, who I've featured before:

"Our GDP is at all-time highs, too. As a fraction of GDP, our deficits and our debt are nothing special. They're about average for the last 30 years. We've seen higher in this country in the past, and in fact many nations today have far worse. "

Funny how facts can get in the way of a "bad" image of the economy. Very inconvenient, those pesky facts.