The lucky left: An animated infographic showing economic growth under both parties since 1949.<br /><br />With a Democrat at the helm, the American economy has grown by an annual average of 4.4 percent. By contrast, when the White House has been occupied by a Republican, the economy has tended to flounder— growing by an average of two-and-a-half percent .<br />That’s a statistically-significant difference of 1.8 percentage points. But is this gap down to luck or judgement? In 1949, Harry Truman, a Democrat, presided over a post-war bounce back—he holds the record for the most successive presidential term—of 6.6%<br />Then came Dwight Eisenhower’s eight years in power—growth fell to an underwhelming two-and-a-half percent<br />JFK’s presidency was tragically cut short, but his successor, Lyndon Johnson maintained the feel good factor of swinging 60s—the economy expanded by over five percent<br />Growth during, Republican, Richard Nixon’s first term was at a decent clip. <br />Following Mr Nixon’s resignation amid the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford his successor, presided over a recession shortly after he took over in 1974 — as a result growth was just 2% during their term<br />Democrat, Jimmy Carter, was ousted after his first term in a landslide election in 1980 — but his growth record was better than of his successor, Ronald Reagan’s, first four years in office<br />Reagan’s second term was more successful — as the fruits of his first-term tax slashing began to ripen<br />A short recession in 1991 dented George H.W. Bush’s record as he lost his bid for a second four years in office<br />But researchers find that fiscal policy has little impact on growth — Bill Clinton raised taxes, yet presided over growth of nearly four percent as the tech boom took off during a recession-free eight years<br />Growth during George W Bush’s first term was a decent 2.8%. But the unfortunate Bush was scarred by the implosion of the financial system just months before he could leave office in 2008 —growth averaged a measly half of one percent<br />The economy has stuttered and stalled during the Obama era — yet he has still manage growth of over two percent<br />The top four presidencies have all been Democratic<br />But researchers find that much of this is indeed down to luck — even taking account of a president’s age and experience, or which party controlled congress<br />While a touch a good policy help. In politics, as in life, timing is everything. <br />For more video content from The Economist visit our website: http://econ.st/1tEDoTS
