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Debate: America the Boastful

Summary --

Only a few years ago pundits were sure that the United States was losing to Asia and Europe and had to emulate their more state- directed economies to remain competitive. Now the conventional wisdom is that America is number one and that the rest of the world should adopt its more laissez-faire approach. In fact, neither caricature is right. Asia was booming and now it is slumping, but it will be back. Europe's underlying ossification will persist. But most important, while the U.S. economy is in a period of robust growth, nothing fundamental has changed. Its long-run growth rate has not accelerated, productivity has not risen, and the structural unemployment rate has fallen by one percentage point at most. Come the next recession, all this triumphalism will seem silly.

Comments

Krugman and the Boastful Nature of the US Economy

Submitted by william.weightm... on March 29, 2009 - 7:51pm.

Many knew that the this Great Recession was coming with a fiscal policy of the last half-dozen presidents way too wacky, but Krugman put it down for all of us to read. Kudos to him for his ability to discern where we are headed. Now, we need something more than Krugman. Some of us might need Tom Joad. Anybody see him lately.

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