The "W" Economy

If George W. Bush views the "haves" and the "have mores" as his base, then I can understand why he, the Republican party and conservative press is declaring that he has overseeing the "best economy in twenty years". Just take a loot at this graph:

(From the weblog of Berkley economist Brad Delong)

The above graph shows the the share of the National Economy that is devoted to corporate profits and labor compensation (wages and benefits). Funny how the two lines move closer and closer together by the end of Clinton's second term and then suddenly set off in opposite directions sometime in early 2001. Correlation isn't of course causation, but there is more than coincidence at work here.