Remember the Carter “malaise”? If you’re under 40, probably not. But rest assured, the Obama economy is taking national malaise to a new level – especially when it comes to our youth. Under President Jimmy Carter, the average youth unemployment rate was 12.9 percent. Under President George W. Bush, it averaged 10.2. Under Obama, it averages 17.5 percent.
While Obama is trying to borrow, tax and spend his way to better employment numbers, President Reagan, who inherited Carter’s terrible economy, led by implementing the policies-the tough policies-needed to get the economy rolling. And America’s youth reaped the benefits.
Prior to Reagan, high taxes and loose monetary policy were strangling business and economic growth. Reagan cut taxes across the board by 25 percent. As a result, approximately 344,900 new jobs were created each month during the Reagan recovery, which led to the creation of 24,833,000 new net jobs and a significant increase in the labor force.
Under Obama we have seen a harmful decrease in the labor force, including a loss of nearly 400,000 net youth jobs. And that’s not all. College tuition has risen 25 percent, the average graduating student loan debt has risen to nearly $30,000, and youth healthcare costs are set to rise 45 percent due to Obamacare’s price mandates.
It’s clear that Obama’s liberal policies have strangled the economy and job creation at the expense of the prosperity of America’s greatest resource – our future.
- 53 percent of graduates under 25 are either unemployed or underemployed.
- Youth unemployment has been above 17 percent for more than two years.
- Since Obama took office, the average cost of in-state tuition at a four year college has risen from $6,585 to $8,244, a 25 percent increase.
- Due to Obamacare, youth healthcare costs set to rise 45 percent.
- Reagan’s policies created more than twice as many jobs in four years than Obama’s policies have created.