Is the Economy the Bottom Line?

On Sunday July 18, 2010, in the New York Times published article “The Pundit Delusion,” columnist and current Economics and International Affairs professor at Princeton University, Paul Krugman suggests that the ‘… “Obama paradox” — the supposedly mysterious disconnect between the president’s achievements and his numbers…’ is based on the health of the nation’s economy. Well versed in the subject of Economics, Krugman supports his claim by showing the evidence of a poll conducted in 1996.

“In 1996 voters were asked whether the deficit had gone up or down under Bill Clinton. It had, in fact, plunged — but a plurality of voters, and a majority of Republicans, said that it had risen.”

Krugman demonstrates that even though during this time Democrats had actually reduced the national deficit, when people did not experience economic improvements in their own lives they were more likely to blame those in office. Krugman goes on to make the point that citizens facing economic troubles in their own lives are more likely to blame those currently in charge than someone who is not. Even though those currently in office are not the cause or only part of the problem, it is what citizens perceive and it is the citizens’ perceptions of what is going on in government that dictate approval ratings. Then, Krugman suggests that if perception is key for approval, maybe the Obama Administration was too concerned about, “…how its policies would play in the news rather than on their actual impact on the economy.” The author points out how this concern could ultimately ruin chances for Obama’s re-election and how people “…will say that it was because Mr. Obama was too liberal — when his real mistake was doing too little to create jobs.”

I personally agree with Krugman’s logic in his argument. When people do not experience immediate change in their personal lives and economy when legislation is passed, people become hesitant to believe that such legislation will ever change anything. As much trust as one can have in this nation’s government, when still facing economic and job problems when promised change is disheartening and can cause one to look for someone to blame. Usually, it is then easiest to blame those who hold power, because it is with their power they should have changed things right?

However, even though Krugman suggests that the economy is the top dictator of approval ratings, isn’t it in the citizen’s best interest to become more informed about legislation to see how this apparent success might or might not affect his or her personal future? Then, his or her approval would be based on that rather than making the executive the scapegoat for the whole situation. But, as nice as this would be, when we are currently in a state as a nation where not all voters are informed even for a presidential election, is there any motivation to be informed for a simple poll? Politicians, at the moment, are better off taking the risk riding the economy’s waves of ups and downs rather than relying on informed voters to make decisions based on the facts.