The Great Recession may have officially ended in June, but most people don't feel it. Household income is still dropping. Unemployment is stuck above 9 percent. And there's no end in sight, says David Leonhardt in The New York Times. Consider the Great Depression. People typically associate that era with broad suffering. But few today realize that the U.S. economy was actually revving up during the 1930s, and setting up a post-Depression era of dizzying growth. The current economic slump doesn't have that silver lining. In fact, if we don't right our ship or stumble onto the next growth engine, we might remember the Great Depression as the good times. Here, an excerpt:
Underneath the misery of the Great Depression, the United States economy was quietly making enormous strides during the 1930s. Television and nylon stockings were invented. Refrigerators and washing machines turned into mass-market products. Railroads became faster and roads smoother and wider....
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.