Thursday, September 18, 2008
The worst presidents in terms of stock market returns
The four presidents who, well, presided over the worst returns for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, from worst to merely bad: Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush (to date). Three of the four had to contend with oil price shocks, two of the four had to deal with generational crises within the financial system, and one of the four had to respond to a surprise attack on the nation's financial capital and the destruction of its second most important port city.
3 Comments:
By 
Brian, at
Fri Sep 19, 12:51:00 AM:
Unfair to Shrub - two of the other three only maintained their record over 4 years, and third only over six years.
Shrub wins out for the longest sustained bad performance. Credit where due.
By Counter Trey, at
Fri Sep 19, 01:40:00 AM:
I am guessing that the measurement starts on the day Bush took office, which is unfair to him because he had absolutely nothing to do with the inflation and bursting of the tech bubble.
A fairer assessment would examine returns since 2003 when his policies took effect. With reinvested dividends, which are running about 1.5% per year, the compound annual return under Bush is about 6.6%.
By Unknown, at
Tue Sep 30, 07:53:00 PM:
Hmm, maybe you need to recalculate after the fallout that has occurred in the last few weeks.
