Reply #11: It was a direct result of credit tightening in Nov. 00

[Capn Sunshine]

which was brought about by a crash in confidence when * was appointed.

In that sense, yes, he had an effect on the markets, even before he was put in there. It didn't take long to realize our worst fears about him were right, and sentiment indexes plunged.

Whether or not we were due for a cyclic recession is not the issue; its all about the response; and here Bush failed everyone but the upper 1% ,who were investing in any war manufacturing.

Gore was far superior in his economic knowlege and never would have allowed California, the main engine of the national economy, to be pillaged by energy companies like Bush did.He probably would also have ordered massive hardware for the Govt. which would have staved off a crash in Silicon Valley. The one action of spitefully ignoring California pretty much guaranteed a long deep recession, unlike the soft landings we saw engineered in the cycle under Clinton.