It turns out that President Bush, who does not believe that America can win the war on terror, is a defeatist on the economy as well. It’s not so much that the economy has done badly on his watch: it’s that he seems to be fully satisfied with how badly it’s done.
If Mr. Bush thinks an unemployent rate of 5.5% shows that his economic policies are “working,” maybe he hasn’t heard enough from Americans who aren’t. Of course he didn’t mention falling real wages and rising poverty rates.
Mr. Bush’s attitude is fundamentally a pessimistic one. I think we need an optimistic President instead, who won’t mistake failure for success.