RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE : Clinton to Have Little Effect on Economy Here, Forecaster Says

Now that the post-election wailing and wassailing is over, its time for a reality check.

Whether your presidential candidate won or lost last week should make little difference to the area’s economy over the next year or so, according to Robert Dunham, president of Newport Economics Group--a man whose opinions fetch big money from many of the Southland’s developers.

“During the next presidential term, the White House will be unable to significantly alter the course of a very gradual economic recovery,” Dunham said. He originally wrote it in an Oct. 20 think piece but said recently that he stands by that forecast.

Presidents most often must follow, not lead, the business cycle, he added, and their options for stimulating the economy generally are limited “to excess spending and/or lowering interest rates.”

But with interest rates already at their lowest level in 30 years and the federal deficit at a staggering high, there is little left for President-elect Clinton to do. “As freshman economic students are always told: ‘You can’t push on a string,’ ” Dunham said.