Tyler Cowen points us to political scientist James Campbell’s analysis of economic conditions under Democratic and Republican presidents. Campbell is responding in part to Larry Bartels’s 2008 finding “that economic growth had been greater and that unemployment and income inequality had been lower underDemocratic presidents since 1948.” Campbell finds that this effect goes away once we take economic conditions inherited from the previous president into account:

Specifically, the economy was in recession when Republican presidents became responsible for the economy in each of the four post-1948 transitions from Democratic to Republican presidents. This was not the case for the transitions from Republicans to Democrats. When economic conditions leading into a year are taken into account, there are no presidential party differences with respect to growth, unemployment, or income inequality.

My guess is that future Democrats will welcome this analysis, as it will help improve the luster of President Obama’s tenure.

I should note that Jim Manzi anticipated Campbell’s analysis in a 2008 post at The Corner memorably titled “Storks Bring Babies.”