OxBlog

Saturday, April 03, 2004

# Posted 4:06 AM by Ariel David Adesnik  

WHAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF A BACKHANDED COMPLIMENT? David Brooks concludes this morning's clever column about productivity by asserting that
Yesterday's good economic news — and the generally good news we've seen over the past 20 years — owes more to innovators like FedEx's Fred Smith than to any of the many fellow Yalies who have sat or will sit in the Oval Office.
Generally speaking, I agree with Brooks. The White House can't have all that much impact on the economy. But this is quite an interesting time for Brooks to make that point. It seems like Brooks is going against the party line by denying his party's president credit for the good news. But what's he really saying is that Democrats shouldn't blame Bush for all the bad economic news that came before yesterday or may come after tomorrow. I can accept that -- as long as Brooks doesn't start defending the deficit.
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