As the conventional wisdom blame the most rapid economic contraction in decades on a fearfully cold winter, Texas senator Ted Cruz observes that the weather seems to affect Democratic and Republican presidents differently:
Q1 GDP fell 2.9%, Obama Admin blames winter. But ’85 winter was also historically cold & Q1 GDP grew 4% http://t.co/4mXh2wSyWe #ReaganvObama
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 25, 2014
The winter of 1984–85 was indeed bitterly cold — from January 20 to 22, 1985, the U.S. suffered a polar vortex like the one seen this past winter. In fact, according to NOAA, February 1985 was the most recent month in history with temperatures below the 20th-century average by the measurements they take across land and ocean surfaces.
Since then, we have experienced 351 consecutive months with a global temperature above the 20th-century average. Perhaps the economy just needs a bit more global warming?