Final look - President Obama's economic record:
Bottom Line: I've recently shared with you that despite the fact that the US economy has under performed for 11 consecutive years, the average economic growth for the United States is still 3.2%. That's instructive because part of the reason the economy hasn't felt "good", or at least the way we always remember it being, is because it's literally been 11 years since we had a year of just average economic growth in the United States! With the 4th quarter GDP coming in with a thud to end 2016 (1.9%). We now have a complete eight year history of the Obama track record. It's the worst in Presidential history for any full/two-term President. Here's the scorecard with economic growth rates by year:
2009: -2.8%
2010: +2.5%
2011: +1.6%
2012: +2.3%
2013: +2.2%
2014: +2.4%
2015: +2.6%
2016: +1.6%
That equates to an average annual economic growth rate of 1.86%. Additionally he's the first President to serve for at least one full-term who didn't have at least one year of economic growth at 3% or higher (yes, even Jimmy Carter had a good year of economic growth as President - 1977). Even if you take out 2009's recession due to President Obama having inherited a poor economy the growth rate is still a paltry 2.2% which would still be a full 1% below the average US economy. Based on this information there is the potential for significant upside in the US economy if we do remove obstacles that have prevented the US economy from attaining even an average year of growth.