[competentone]

I'm neither a Bush-supporter nor a basher, but I will say that trying to put cause or blame on any one person for the status of the economy is to really not understand the economy.

Yes, an administration can have policies that generally help the economy -- for example, the lowered capital gains taxes have given the economy a tremendous boost -- but such policies cannot become law without the general support of citizens and their elected representatives.

Even when positive (or negative) economic laws are enacted, the massive complexity of the marketplace can mean that other, unrelated events, can offset the political action. A perfect example of this is the constant inflating of the money supply (negative factor) practiced by the Federal Reserve -- causing constant inflation -- being offset, in part, by advances in technology working to lesson the felt impact at the cash register.

The size and complexity of the economy means that no one person -- no matter how much public focus may be on him/her -- really has very much influence. It takes the concerted effort of many people to help or harm the economy.