So a story in the paper today says that the folks who date the beginnings and ends of recessions might change their minds about when the last one began.
The "big deal" about the story is that beginning might be set in November 2000 when President Clinton was still president, not March 2001 when Bush had taken office.
Who cares?
What matters now is how this president handles what happens on his watch, even what he inherited, because that is the true measure of the man and his policies.
What's clear is that the stock market bubble had burst and the economy was heading lower when Mr. Bush took office. Then terror attacks, corporate scandals, and wars took the economy even lower.
His medicine was big tax cuts, skewed toward people with wealth, because he believes they are the spenders, the investors the entrepreneurs.
This record is what counts. Not the dates of the last recession.
Kathleen Hays anchors CNN Money Morning and The FlipSide, airing Monday to Friday on CNNfn. As part of CNN's Business News team, she is also a regular contributor to Lou Dobbs Tonight.
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