Recession and Recovery of '81-'85 Was Worse But Shorter Than "Great Recession"

We have come to regard the "Great Recession" of 2008-2010 as the most cataclysmic economic event in the United States since the Great Depression of the 1930's, but is this really true? The above chart shows that the supposedly not-so-great-recession-as-today of Reagan (1982-1984) was in truth much worse in terms of unemployment that the Great Recession of the last few years. Specifically, unemployment among Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites reached 22%, 17%, and 10%, respectively, during the Reagan period. During Obama's recession, these levels were not as severe, reaching levels of 17%, 13%, and 9-10% for Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, respectively.

Reagan had a much worse economy on his hands than Obama, for the most important and painful measure of economic pain, namely unemployment. So why don't we recall just how horrendously bad the Reagan period was. Very simple answer. Because Reagan acted decisively on taxes and economic policy, with the result that his recession, as the chart shows, lasted a little over a year despite being egregiously deep as regards unemployment. Obama, who had less depth to the unemployment figures, has instituted policies which have not only failed to resolve the economic malaise, but actually arguably have extended the time to recover fourfold compared to Reagan. Obama has made the recovery worse. We are now 4 years into a recession followed by the slowest recovery since the Great Depression. By any measure of comparison it is an inescapable, demonstrable fact, as the above chart demonstrates, that Obama's economic policies have been an unmitigated disaster, and have made for the current slow recovery.