Given that the downturn began nearly four years ago, and that the population has grown significantly since then, the economy should instead be bigger than it was before the financial crisis. But Calculated Risk, a finance blog, makes a good observation: On most major measures of economic health, the economy is still worse today than it was before the recession began.
Dollars to doughnuts.CATHERINE RAMPELL
Dollars to doughnuts.
As you can see, all of these categories but one are still below where they were when the recession began. Industrial production is by far the worst off, since an index of this activity is nearly 8 percent below its level in December 2007. Second-worst is employment; today there are 5 percent — or about seven million — fewer payroll jobs than there were when the recession began.
Inflation-adjusted personal income and gross domestic product are still below the last business cycle peak, as is the average work week.
The one major indicator shown that is (barely) above its level at the start of the recession is inflation-adjusted consumer spending. Much of that growth has been subsidized by government transfer payments, however. And to further rain on this parade, remember that if the economy were healthy, consumer spending would probably be much higher today than it was before the recent recession. Just take a look at the longer-term trend:
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