Obama and the Apparent Turn in the Economy

It appears that there are some consistently strong signs that the recession has peaked and is now turning a corner. Moreover, it looks like the economic recovery may not be a jobless recovery after all.

I'm always leery of these kinds of reports, as I think they tend to be premature in terms of what they mean for any kind of economic pattern. And they often fluctuate wildly. I'm even more leery of attributing any recovery (or downturn, for that matter) to any single individual President, as I think market and economic conditions are by and large out of the control of any one person. Now I know some would disagree and would argue that the Bush Administration's economic policies led to the economic collapse and recession and that Obama's policies have mitigated its effect and may now be leading us into a recovery. But I still generally do not hop on such bandwagons -- even if any of them might be true.

But what I do hold to is that he who presides over the realm owns the blame or the praise, rightly or wrongly, for any economic trends and realities that occur during his watch. So, if the economy really is in a clear and continuous recovery and rebound phase (and, again, I'm leery about the solidity of this claim), Obama must get the credit.