The Washington Post had an excellent article/graph the other day about the year 2000-09, essentially saying that after numerous consecutive decades of growth, our economy in the first decade of the 21st century was at best stagnant (“The Lost Decade For the Economy“). I suppose two recessions will do that.
To quote the article:
Job growth was essentially zero, as modest job creation from 2003 to 2007 wasn’t enough to make up for two recessions in the decade. Rises in the nation’s economic output, as measured by gross domestic product, was weak. And household net worth, when adjusted for inflation, fell as stock prices stagnated, home prices declined in the second half of the decade and consumer debt skyrocketed.
It’s interesting to think that our nation’s economy has had such unbridled success for most of its history, and this past decade was the first in a long time where growth at best minimal and at worst stagnant. Obviously we’re still in the process of turning things around, and while some positive progress has been made, there’s still a long way to go. Let’s hope the Post does this graph again in 10 years and that it looks a lot different!
-Michael
Twitter: @michael_dink
No Comments yet!