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Democrats Versus Republicans Economic Policies 1945 to 2009 by Robert Merriam |
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May 15, 2011
Democrats and Republicans have different approaches for obtaining an
efficient and helpful government and a satisfied citizenry.
The differences reside mostly in the relative roles of private enterprise, taxation, market forces and the supportive and regulatory role of government. Party policies have been applied during seven Democrat and nine Republican administrations during the sixty four years between 1945 and 2009. Here, using available numerical data from government sources during that time span, I have taken important aspects of our political and economic life and compared the two parties using numbers published by governmental sources. I emphasize that party policies, as opposed to candidate personalities and viewpoints, have been largely responsible for the differences illuminated by these data.
Size of Federal Government
Question: What was the average percent change in number of non-military federal employees during rhe four year terms, 1946-2001?
7 Democratic Terms 7 Republican terms
0.8% decrease 1.3% increase
Question: What was the average percent change in the non-military federal payroll during four terms, 1946-2001?
7 Democratic Terms 7 Republican terms
15.7% increase per term 17.2% increase per term
The National Debt
Question: How much money was spent in excess of tax revenues in the average four year term, 1945 – 2009?
7 Democratic Terms 7 Republican terms
$22.4 billion $124.7 billion
Question: What was the increase in national debt, expressed as percent of GDP, during presidential terms?
7 Democratic Terms 7 Republican terms
00.0% 62.9%
Question: During national debt reduction from 1945 to 1981, what was the average debt reduction per tgerm as percent of GDP for the two parties?
5 Democratic Terms 4 Republican terms
-13.2% reduction per term -4.75% reduction per term
Question: What was the average percent unemployment during the four year terms?
6.5 Democratic Terms 9 Republican terms
4.8% 6.2%
Question: What was the average % growth in GDP per year during a four-year term, 1945 – 2009?
7 Democratic Terms 9 Republican terms
3.2% gain per year 1.8% gain per year
Question: What was the average ^% gain per year in (adjusted) before-tax corporate profit, 1947 – 2009?
7 Democratic Terms 9 Republican terms
+3.2% gain +1.9% gain
Sources of quantitative information used for the above data
Differences in number of terms in the several analyses above were due to restricted time periods for some data and tabular unavailability of data for a few questions. The numbers from which averages and percent changes were calculated came from the following sources: US Census Data; The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Economic Report of the President 2011.
Robert Merriam is an academic scientist who received his Ph.D. from the University of Madison in 1953. Dr. Merriam has published over 50 papers in professional journals. Today, Dr. Merriam resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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