October 14, 2005, 8:59 a.m.
Bush Boom: Minority Report
Entrepreneurial activity among blacks and Latinos is up.

By Jerry Bowyer

President Bush’s economic policies have created an environment that is highly conducive to the prosperity of racial minorities. BuzzCharts knows this assertion might shock some people, even those who are supporters of President George W. Bush. The Bush administration clearly is better at helping African Americans and Latinos become more prosperous than it is at telling the country what it has done to make these minority groups more prosperous.

BuzzCharts doesn’t do PR; we do data. And here’s what the data says:

During the last five years of President Clinton’s term — as far back as the data for this analysis goes — entrepreneurial activity among blacks increased 0.02 percent. Since the beginning of the Bush presidency, it has increased 0.04 percent — twice the Clinton growth rate for the available data. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial activity among Latinos increased 0.1 percent during the last five years of Clinton’s term. Since Bush has taken office, entrepreneurial activity among Latinos has jumped 0.12 percent.

As we have shown previously, black unemployment is near historic lows, as is the gap between black and white unemployment. So, as minorities searching for jobs are having greater success today, America is moving towards greater employment equality.

The chart above shows that this broad-based tendency towards prosperity is likely to continue. Business starts are a measure of dynamism in a community, and therefore of likely future prosperity. The new ownership society as envisioned by the current president is intended for everyone, and judging by the stats, the dream of business ownership is coming true for more blacks and Latinos under Bush than Clinton.

— Jerry Bowyer is the author of The Bush Boom and an economic advisor to Independence Portfolio Partners. He can be reached through www.BowyerMedia.com.