It's interesting to see how, in politics, a new leader deals with the conditions that were essentially created by their predecessor. They subsequently either get the blame or take the credit. I saw that on multiple occasions when I lived in Louisiana. Edwin Edwards was governor of the state for four different terms, only two of which were consecutive. Each of his successors had caught flack from the fallout of what he had put into place. (Edwards was such an upstanding citizen that he now resides in prison.)
What made me think of this? Well, everyone knows that the US economy has hit a rough spot as of late. When gas prices started rising 2 or 3 years ago, people starting feeling the pinch in their wallets to greater and greater degrees. Thankfully, prices have been falling for the last month or so.
Today, on the way back from Arkansas, I filled up my tank for $1.95 per gallon. Granted, we saw prices ranging from that to $2.29, and the prices near our house are currently around $2.06. The bottom line is that prices are dropping, and will hopefully continue to do so.
Here's my (not so) bold prediction: If prices on gas stay at a reasonable level, other prices will dip and consumer confidence will begin to rise. Then, at about the mid-way point of 2009, we'll begin to see a turnaround in the economy. Not a major overnight shift, but evidence of the beginnings of recovery. The new President, be he Obama or McCain, will then be heralded as the economic savior, even though neither will have been in office long enough to have a significant affect on it. And when he runs for re-election in 2012, we'll hear false claims of "the economy was in the crapper when I took office (insert miscellaneous blaming of George Bush here). It was under MY leadership that things got fixed." All a bunch of BS.
Don't get me wrong; I'll be happy to pay lower prices for gas and...well...everything else. It just to show how dumb luck and timing (being in the right place at the right time) can have an impact.
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