You’re welcome, America. Dubya’s ‘lost decade’
Turns out the Bush era really was as bad as you thought...
From the moment the conservative majority on the Supreme Court handed him the keys to the White House, you just kind of knew the George W. Bush era was going to suck. Now, it’s official. The first ten years of the 21st century (the “aughts,” or if you prefer, the “decade from hell,” were America’s lost decade (unless you were really, really rich.) From the Wapo:
For most of the past 70 years, the U.S. economy has grown at a steady clip, generating perpetually higher incomes and wealth for American households. But since 2000, the story is starkly different.
The past decade was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times, a sharp reversal from a long period of prosperity that is leading economists and policymakers to fundamentally rethink the underpinnings of the nation’s growth.
It was, according to a wide range of data, a lost decade for American workers. The decade began in a moment of triumphalism — there was a current of thought among economists in 1999 that recessions were a thing of the past. By the end, there were two, bookends to a debt-driven expansion that was neither robust nor sustainable.
There has been zero net job creation since December 1999. No previous decade going back to the 1940s had job growth of less than 20 percent. Economic output rose at its slowest rate of any decade since the 1930s as well.
Middle-income households made less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999 — and the number is sure to have declined further during a difficult 2009. The Aughts were the first decade of falling median incomes since figures were first compiled in the 1960s.
And the net worth of American households — the value of their houses, retirement funds and other assets minus debts — has also declined when adjusted for inflation, compared with sharp gains in every previous decade since data were initially collected in the 1950s.
“This was the first business cycle where a working-age household ended up worse at the end of it than the beginning, and this in spite of substantial growth in productivity, which should have been able to improve everyone’s well-being,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.
The suckishness is further illustrated by this chart, which shows that even in its best years, the Aughts didn’t produce half the GDP growth of the next worst decade, the infamous ’70s, and the “lost decade” even did something that hasn’t been seen in about a century: it actually produced negative household income growth for Americans. Stunning.
More thoughts on the aughts (including a bit of good news, believe it or not,) from Ezra Klein. Meanwhile, with the exception of the people at Fox News (and RedState.com/MichelleMalkin.com,) the public almost unanimously agrees that the previous decade sucked, big time.
According to the [latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll], a combined 58% said the decade was either “awful” or “not so good,” 29% said it was fair, and just 12% said it was either “good” or “great.” [...]
Asked what they thought had the greatest negative impact on America this past decade, 38% cited the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 23% picked the mortgage and housing crisis, 20% said the Iraq war, 11% chose the stock market crash, and 6% said Hurricane Katrina.
But 37% said it lost ground on the environment, 46% said it lost ground on health and well being, 50% said it lost ground on peace and national security, 54% said lost ground on the nation’s sense of unity, 55% said it lost ground in treating others with respect, 66% said it lost ground on moral values, and a whopping 74% said it lost ground on economic prosperity.
Comments
2 Responses to “You’re welcome, America. Dubya’s ‘lost decade’”
Leave a Reply
NOW PLAYING:
The Reid Report named Best National Blog in the 2010 Florida Netroots Awards! Thanks to all who voted, and congrats to all the nominees and winners! Full list of winners hereFollow & Friend
Adverts
Links
Finalist: Best Liberal Blog
Shop
ReidReport TwitterFeed- Just heard Roshawn Banks (@bankonbanks) on Hot 105. Running for Broward County Court Judge. Broward has an unprecedented 20 judicial races.
- The better to spread the crazy, my dear / @SteveKrak: Say what you want about @glennbeck but he is pro-iTunes, pro-YouTube and pro-blogs
- "@bankonbanks: @thereidreport Listen in Hot 105 live interview. Roshawn Banks for County Court Judge. www.bankonbanks.com"/will do!
- Mas fotos: "@Gawker: Chelsea Gets Hitched http://bit.ly/aSePqJ"
- "@CBSNews: Pictures: Chelsea Clinton's Wedding Day http://bit.ly/cKebfR"/lovely. Good for them!
- I'm sure there are many things more hilarious than the Tea Party Diversity Event, but I cant think of any just now.. http://gocl.me/dgyEsy"
- Some maverick! / "@learyspt: McCain mum on Crist http://bit.ly/9eKO1R"
Watch Daily: The White House Press Briefing
Read Mark Williams' "Letter 'from the Coloreds' to Abe Lincoln
And what do we do now about this? Obama hasn’t taken us very far away from all the negatives named in the last 2 grafs. Some starts have been made, and this Democrat is still hoping. But we have to recognize that W was not the author of much of the bad stuff. We Americans in our totality are the authors. And what to do? As Rilke famously said, You must change your life.
No, Dubya was not the author. Cheney was. His/their policies destroyed this country, and now Obama has to fix it.