Herr, Matt
April 2, 2007
Worst Economic President Research Paper
President James Carter is remembered for being extremely caring and one of the best presidents when his charitable work is considered. He was passionate about his fight for increased emphasis on the search for alternate fuel resources. When Real GDP Growth Rate, Unemployment Rate, Inflation Rate, Interest Rate and Personal Income are compared to the eight other presidents that held the office between 1969 and 2004, he is the obvious worst. Although the average personal income during his presidency was the highest, problems arose among every other category. As bad as Carter's statistics were, he doesn't seem to be greatly at fault, as President Ford left him in charge of a trough of the business cycle. On paper Carter is the worst economic president America has seen in the thirty-five years considered.
The Real Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate during Carter's term in presidency was extremely low in comparison to the other eight observed presidents. Carter strongly emphasized better energy policies because in his opinion America relied too much on oil and this reliance proved to be a great negative factor during his term. Gasoline shortages caused by the Iranian Revolution (OPEC) that arose in 1979 forced prices to rise and America was forced to spend more and more money to import these products. Because imports are a leakage from the circular flow, this increase in prices helped to hinder progress with the Real GDP during Carter's term. Because this revolution involved Iran's people attempting to overthrow their current form of government (Iranian) this factor is not in any way Carter's fault and he is in no way obligated to take responsibility for this cause.
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