Political Parties No Longer Have Cake

Fun Fact: Election Cakes used to exist.

A political party is a group of people who seek to elect representatives who hold their same values. Political parties compete for power in public office and elect their candidates to public office. The two biggest political parties are the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Political parties exist because when the Constitution was ratified, the Founders broke off into Federalists and Anti-Federalists, people who wanted a strong government and people who wanted a weak government. The Republican Party was formed to oppose slavery in the southern states of the US. The Democratic Party was formed with the advent of Andrew Jackson's presidency, who wanted all white men to be eligible to vote regardless of land ownership.

These parties run campaign ads to elect government officials who support bills in line with the party's beliefs and ideals. Today, we will be looking at each party's economic policies from a purely economic perspective and see whose policies are better suited for the United States' economy. A better economy for the US entails a growth of Gross Domestic Product (the value of goods and services provided by a country each year) or Gross National Product (GDP along with income from foreign investments).

DISCLAIMER: I am not an economist nor planning to be one. Take what I report with a grain of salt. 

According to the graph above made by the Hudson Institute, we can see that under the Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton administration, the US had a high average GDP growth. The US's GDP grew 4.3% under Kennedy, 5.3% under Johnson, and 3.9% under Clinton. With some research, I discovered these three presidents were Democrats and with Democratic Congress (aside from Bill Clinton with the last years of his presidency). Under the Democratic presidency and a Democratic Congress and the US underwent the highest GDP growth, Democratic Presidents under a Democratic Congress are the best for the United States economy.

Or are they?

It could be entirely circumstantial that the United States underwent the highest GDP growth under these three Democratic presidents. For example, Bill Clinton was president during the rise of the internet, which could have sparked high GDP growth in the country. LBJ was one president during the Vietnam war and military spending could have bolstered GDP growth to a high level, shadowing every other president after World War II. But the same thing should have happened when George W. Bush started military action in Afghanistan; his low GDP growth does not add up.

According to CBS News, Congress cooperating with the president has the biggest impact on fiscal policy. When bills are not passed to impact fiscal policy, no GDP growth/deficit can occur.

Along with that, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has the most impact on the stabilization of our economy. But! The Chair of the Reserve is a presidential appointee and can be blocked by Congress. The Fed can control the money supply and the interest rates. But interest rates are raised in accordance with GDP, not the other way around. So, who really has the most influence over the GDP growth? The world may never know.

Will be updated soon with more findings.