Explore the economic record of presidents, starting with Harry S Truman. Updated with recent data.
To examine the record of presidents regarding economics, I gathered data from several sources and present it in an interactive visualization. It holds about 47,000 observations of 90 variables.
The example shown below is the energy intensity index. This measures the amount of energy consumed to produce a unit of gross domestic product, or GDP. It is an index value produced annually, with the year 1990 set to 100. In 2020 the index was at 56, meaning that energy used per unit of production is barely more than half than in 1990. This index is produced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Click here for more about the energy intensity index.
The extent to which presidents have influence or control over these matters is a matter of debate. Opinions usually depend on whether the economy is doing well or not, and which political party is in the White House.
To access the interactive visualization, click on Visualization: Presidential data explorer.
(Click charts for larger versions.)
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