the truth is, no one knows jack shit about the economy. the only goddamn thing we know about economy, and WHICH WE LEARN IN ECON 101, is that everything revolves around ceterus paribus. And, given that, not a single person can take credit for an economy doing well or doing poorly. You can't say Reaganomics did or didnt work. It did some things well, it fucked up others. Same with every administration. Clinton may have ridden the previous administration's good policy, but goddamn he certainly made it last for more than a couple years.
economic policy coming from the federal government will always ALWAYS ALWAYS help some and hurt others. if we want to start programs to help the needy, we're going to hurt the wealthy by taxing them. if we stop taxing the wealthy, as trickle-down economists prefer, we may create more jobs but inflation will then increase and those without skills will be in a worse predicament. I honestly think the Bush administration's true reason for going to war with Iraq had nothing to do with oil or terrorism; it had to do with the economy because war is one thing that ALWAYS helps your economy. Iraq was convenient, not as difficult a target as other countries (i.e. iran, north korea, pakistant, etc.), and it at least ostensibly had some legitimate targets like Saddam and the magical WMDs.