From Amity Shlaes:
‘When it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s,” President Obama told Mitt Romney in their final debate.
Obama got sloppy here. Presumably, the president was suggesting the 1920s represent economic failure. The decade represents just the opposite, as measured by the very goals on which the Democrats base their 2012 presidential campaign.
Growth: Obama has spoken often and forcefully about economic growth. In just one debate, the second one, the president used the term “grow” when discussing the economy 13 times, whereas Romney said “grow” or “growth” eight times. The 1920s had strong growth: Real gross domestic product increased an average of 4 percent per annum.
Higher wages for skilled workers: “I want high-wage, high-skill jobs,” Obama has said. Weekly wages increased in the 1920s, especially in the president’s preferred area — higher-skilled jobs. Overcoming joblessness, Obama has said, matters hugely to our future.
