Why leaders matter - macroeconomic policy

Is the crisis Bush's fault? The NYT has an article quoting Robert Barbera, the chief economist ofITG saying that "no matter who took office in 2001, they were destined to oversee dashed expectations regarding the economy, the markets and the geopolitical outlook”...well, maybe.

But W did mess up badly. While Clinton managed the biggest employment growth at the cost of no inlfation (in your face Philipps!) nor treasury debt, W managed the lowest employment growth and biggest debt/GDP ratio of all US presidents. 

Click on the graph below to see macro performance under various US presidents!