We all know that members of the US House and Senate dramatically enlarge their net worth upon taking office but do they do anything for (or to) us? After all, don't these multi-millionaire politicians promise to do just that in order to garner votes? A recent article in Better Investing suggests these are idle promises. At best. But...two charts tracking the S&P index against House and Senate majority margins does tell an interesting story.
The author did not differentiate between parties in the majority nor is there any indication when a single party held the majority in both the House and the Senate. It is interesting to note that there were times, long ago, when the "majority party" held less than 50% of the seats in the House. Back in those days the country was blessed with more than two parties which now look and behave strikingly similar. No matter what you believe.
What is striking about these charts is that the best S&P returns coincide with the weakest majorities in the House and Senate. And there is reason to believe that our recent (2022-2023) plunge in S&P returns might correlate with the same party holding a majority in both chambers.
That, as they say, is a topic for further research.
Posts
