Three and a half years into the presidency of Barack Obama, many observers are seeking to evaluate the president’s economic performance. A telling comparison is the state of the economy under President Reagan, the last president to govern during a deep recession.

Throughout the Obama presidency, the growth of the economy has been slow and inconsistent. In contrast to Reagan, President Obama has never presided over a period of strong economic development.

The data clearly show that the sluggish pace of the Obama recovery pales in comparison to the economic rebound that the nation experienced under President Reagan. In several key areas, the current administration’s policies have failed to produce the strong upward trends that occurred at the close of Reagan’s first term and the beginning of his second.

The Obama recovery is considered to have begun in June 2009 with the end of the most recent US recession, and continues through the present. This period of time will be compared to the Reagan recovery, which lasted from November 1982 to October 1985.

This series of posts will analyze and compare a wide range of economic indicators compiled during the Reagan and Obama presidencies.

This article is from Americans for Tax Reform Foundation