Transcript of interview with President Bush

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo: Mr. President, thank you for being with us. Do you think most Americans feel better off today than they did when you first took office?

President GEORGE W. BUSH: I think that's an interesting question, because when I first took office, no one would have anticipated that we'd have been under attack by an enemy as violently as we were.

I think most Americans feel like this economy is good and a lot of people are beginning to realize it more and more, real after-tax wages were up the past 12 months, which is important. I mean, people are keeping more of their own money. But we've been through some tough times over the past five years, we've been through a recession and the corporate scandals, which affected the--a lot of people's view of the economy, some high energy prices, big hurricane, and war. And yet this economy is strong because the entrepreneurial spirit is and people are working. And I feel like--I really am please with the progress we've made on the economic front, but there's obviously still more work to be done. Just got to make sure we remain competitive and keep taxes low.

CNBC: If you ask an economist on Wall Street or at the White  House, they will also say that the economy is doing very well. But let me ask you about the guy from middle America, the person who is the average middle-class American who may very well say he's feeling pressured.

Pres. BUSH: Yeah, I can understand that. Particularly last year, because he's a person whose wages weren't going up quite as strongly as we had hoped, and his health care costs were going up and the price of gasoline was high.

Now the same fellow's wages have gone up in real terms, having been adjusted for inflation, his health care costs are still high, but his gasoline prices are low, lower, and when you couple all that with the tax cuts, he's got more money in his pocket. And it's--I--as I say, I'm happy to see that the average worker, the person out there in middle-class America, is keeping more of his money, or her money.

CNBC: Why do you think oil prices have fallen from close to $80 to below 60?

Pres. BUSH: You know, it's--I would hope it would be the markets adjusting, although I would--I think there was a certain amount of speculation, you know, betting on the--hedging in the marketplace, and that people realized that there was--a correction was coming and they began to sell. Oil prices are--should be a reflection of  supply-and-demand. Oil prices are a reflection of supply-and-demand coupled with a speculator's view of what the future may look like. And I think what you saw was some speculators trying, you know, heading in the other direction on the price of oil. What we've got to do in this country, however, is welcome low oil prices but continue to spend money to make sure we become less dependent on oil. I think one of the real challenges to our economy and to the competitive nature of the American economy in a global world is to make sure that we have alternative sources of energy, which also will make us better stewards of our environment.

And by alternative sources of energy I mean ethanol, different types of ethanol, ethanol produced from corn, ethanol produced from hopefully some day wood chips or straw grass, different battery technologies that'll enable you to drive your car for--particularly in New York City for the first 40 miles on electricity. You know, there's some--hydrogen eventually could be used to power all of those other--there's a lot of things we can do now to make sure in the--in the out years that we're less dependent on oil.

CNBC: Has momentum on that stopped or slowed down at all now that gasoline is back?

Pres. BUSH: You know, not really. Gasoline prices have backed off, they're certainly still high for a lot of folks, and no, they won't--they won't in terms of our requests to Congress for research money. The interesting thing is is that a lot of private capital has started to move into alternative sources of energy, whether it be on--how we drive our automobiles or, you know, solar energies or wind energies are getting a lot of investment, and I think these investors are very savvy and they understand that in the longer term, you know, dependency upon oil is not good for this country.

CNBC: Are you worried about OPEC? Already, the Saudis are saying they want to cut back on production, OPEC wants to cut back because they want to see prices go back up.

Pres. BUSH: Yeah, you know, it's hard to tell whether or not there's speculation. I don't think there's actually a formal request yet, I think, if I'm not mistaken, some of the ministers talking about what they'd like to see happen. I would hope that the OPEC nations understand that high prices of oil could wreck economies, and if they wreck economies, it means the purchasers will be fewer.

MORE FROM CNBC TV

CNBC TV Section Front

L.A. is home to new rush of oil drilling Cutting the cost of a $77,000 fill-up Robot maker’s fortune built on a simple idea Who are the Super Rich? Baseball bat maker still hitting home runs Arianna Huffington makes waves on the Web Big venture built on little shoe accessory Unwinding the long history of the Slinky Working Magic off the basketball court A business success story — with a twist CNBC TV Section Front   Add CNBC TV headlines to your news reader: