He has made a bad situation much worse.
Recovery Doesn’t Feature Typical Snapback in Growth
By Ben Casselman and Josh Mitchell | The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. economy has taken more than two years to claw its way back to producing the amount of goods and services it did just before the last recession.
But what about all that “lost” growth? After slumps, growth usually sprints forward—allowing the economy to not only regain its previous peak but also add enough on top to make it seem as if no recession ever happened. After the early 1980s recession, for instance, the U.S. notched five straight quarters of over 7% growth, quickly putting the economy back on its previous expansion path.
That hasn’t happened this time. On Friday, the government releases its preliminary snapshot of economic growth in the final three months of 2011 and most economists expect it to show gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of about 3%.
That would be the fastest quarterly growth the U.S. has managed since mid-2010. And indeed, the economy has shown signs of accelerating. But to make up for growth lost during the recession, the economy has to shift into a much higher gear. Economists note that while output, adjusted for inflation, is finally back to its pre-recession level, it still falls short if adjusted for population growth.
“We’re still in a hole, and the hole’s just as deep as it ever was. It’s just it’s not getting deeper,” said Justin Wolfers, a visiting professor of economics at Princeton University
Obama has said that if he didn’t have things turned around in three years, he’d be a one term President. Let’s help him keep that promise.
Hat Tip: Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds
