The U.S. Recovery Is Not What It Seems
Economists regularly point out that the U.S. has recovered from the recession of 2007 to 2009 much more strongly than other countries. If only it were so.
True, the U.S. stands out if one looks only at gross domestic product. For example, The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development pointed out recently that U.S. GDP has expanded by more than 10 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since the end of 2007, while the euro area and Japan economy have stagnated.
It's important, however, to take account of population growth. The U.S. population is growing much faster than those of either Europe or Japan, so its economy should almost automatically grow faster as well. Yet what really matters for individuals is how much output per person has changed. Here's how that looks for the U.S., the euro area, Japan, and the U.K.
The U.S. is still ahead, but not by much. Even in the euro area, cumulative growth in per capita, inflation-adjusted GDP falls only about 4 percentage points short of the U.S. And within the euro area, Germany actually exceeded the U.S. by 5 percentage points.
MORE...
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-18/the-u-s-recovery-is-not-what-it-seems
forest444
(5,902 posts)And no doubt a lot more disproportionately so, compared to the rest of the developed world.
Excellent find as always, Purveyor.
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)"Even in the euro area, cumulative growth in per capita, inflation-adjusted GDP falls only about 4 percentage points short of the U.S."
Of course the most significant factor not mentioned is the GOP obstruction of jobs bills proposed by Obama. Without that obstruction the recovery would have been much stronger.
Martin Eden
(12,845 posts)I always remember this when I see GDP discussed as a prime indicator of economic health:
Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.
And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.
If this is true here at home, so it is true elsewhere in world.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/may/24/robert-kennedy-gdp
GeorgeGist
(25,311 posts)Demsrule86
(68,458 posts)We nearly starved. So he is working...people in my area are working (Ohio) and fixing up their houses or buying new one...my son has a good job. My daughter got a part time job in her field yesterday (she is in college and was interning). Things are much better. Why do we have such negative articles about the economy which the president had to save all by himself...without a bit of help from the GOP...and in order to improve things we need to elect Democrats. It is the only way. I wonder if we had the president's back what progress could have been made on that front? And I have European friends. The US is doing much better.