The Economic Debate In Four Charts

    Dueling blog posts from The Atlantic's Derek Thompson and the conservative American Enterprise Institute's James Pethokoukis crystalize the debate over the economy that will dominate the presidential election. Democrats contend that the economy is getting better, while Republicans say it's happening too slowly.

    Zeke Miller
    by Zeke Miller

    BuzzFeed Staff

    treasury.gov / Via theatlantic.com
    treasury.gov / Via theatlantic.com
    minneapolisfed.org / Via blog.american.com

    Pethokoukis: The current recovery in the labor market has badly lagged others that occurred after deep recessions.

    bls.gov / Via blog.american.com

    Pethokoukis: The official unemployment rate is 8.3%, but when you include labor force dropouts and part-timers who want full-time work, the rate jumps to 15.1%.