[Abridged] Presidential Histories

42.A) Bill Clinton's Economic Legacy, an interview with Nelson Lichtenstein

Kenny Ryan

"It's the economy, stupid" - Clinton advisor James Carville, 1992.

Bill Clinton left office with a 66% approval rating. This was in large part because 81% of Americans approved his handling of the economy - 71% said the 1999 was the best economy of their lifetimes (according to Gallup).

But how much credit does a president really deserve for an economy? And how does Clinton's record on free trade, welfare reform, and deregulation hold up today?

Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein, author of A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism, joins me to discuss the economic legacy of Bill Clinton.

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