"They're still pretty low, the government spending levels. But I think they look high because there's a recession," he said. "So the taxes look lower than they really would be if we had two and half or 3 percent growth and spending is higher than it would be if we had two and a half or 3 percent growth, because there are so many people getting food stamps, so many people getting unemployment, so many people on Medicaid."

In the midst of a heated re-election campaign, Obama has faced a barrage of bad news lately, from anemic job growth and an increase in the unemployment rate to weak factory and housing activity. First-quarter gross domestic growth registered a meager 1.9 percent.

Like the current Oval Office resident, Clinton blamed much of the economic damage on the sovereign debt crisis — "this European thing that's having a bigger impact than people know" — as well as politics, saying, "The thing that cost jobs here has been the Congress's policies."

Politically, Clinton has found himself in a ticklish spot lately as reports have re-emerged about his sometimes ambivalent stance toward Obama. He recently praised Republican challenger Mitt Romney's record in private equity at Bain Capital, another remark that amplified the notion that the two don't always see eye-to-eye.

Clinton said Obama is "on stronger ground" when he challenges Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts, not as a businessman at Bain.

"There's a company not doing well, that's failing, and you buy it and have to impose some economies there and cutbacks because you're trying to turn it around so it can thrive in the economy. Whether you succeed or fail, that's a good thing to do," he said. "If you go in and buy a company and intentionally load it up with debt, loot its assets and the people lose their jobs and retirements...that's a bad thing."