Morning Jay: Will the Economy Save Obama?

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6:00 AM, Jan 10, 2012 • By JAY COST

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At a growth rate of 2.2 percent, we are really not going to see much change in incomes or employment. Remember, the U.S. population tends to grow by about 1 percent per year. So a growth rate of 2.2 percent is barely going to take up any of the enormous slack in the economy.

Nevertheless, 2012 remains the critical economic year for Obama’s reelection prospects. If we get growth better than the paltry 2.2 percent that the experts are expecting, and we see some real improvement in incomes and employment, then Chait may ultimately turn out to be correct. But we have not seen that so far, three years into Obama’s tenure, and the experts do not expect that for the fourth year, either.