After falling rather sharply in 2008 and early 2009, American GDP grew at a good pace in the fourth quarter of 2009, but has slowed down during the second quarter of 2010. Unemployment declined to 9.5% from its peak in November 2009 of 10.2%, but has been stuck around its current level for several months. This has led to growing fears of a double dip recession, and to a call for still greater fiscal stimulus. I do not believe that either of these is correct, and that the federal government should be concentrating on providing a good economic environment to encourage businesses and entrepreneurs to invest, hire, improve productivity, and raise longer-term economic growth of the US.
More than 60 years ago, Arthur Burns- former head of the NBER and Chairman of the Fed- and Wesley Mitchell-founder of the NBER- together wrote a classic study of business cycles called “Measuring Business Cycles”. They divided business cycles into several stages, such as the economic peak, economic decline, trough, early recovery, late recovery, and then a peak again. They clearly show that business cycles are of uneven length, depth, and severity, and that recoveries do not always proceed smoothly. A recession ends after the trough is passed, but they recognized that during recoveries an economy takes a while before it reaches and then surpasses its earlier peak. So from this perspective, the troubles the American economy is experiencing are not unprecedented, or even unusual.
Continue reading Gary Becker at The Becker-Posner Blog…
(photo credit: Nicholas)
