Stagnation

A great article by Daniel Gross at Slate. He talks about 2000s as the lost decade economically,and he leaves very few depressing stones unturned,

Jobs:

In September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, there were 108.5 million private (nongovernment) payroll jobs in the united States—almost precisely the number there were in June 1999.

Stocks:

...stocks went precisely nowhere in the past decade, despite all the efforts to help the market, from slashing capital gains and dividend taxes to keeping interest rates extremely low to bailing out just about everyone.

Investing:

According to the securities industry's Equity Ownership in America 2008 report, the proportion of the population that owned stocks or bonds fell from 57 percent in 2001 to 48 percent in 2008.

Income:

The latest report from the Census Bureau on income, poverty, and health insurance is full of interesting data that show that median household income in 2008, at $50,303, was below where it was in 1998. The same report shows (see Table B-1 on Page 44) that both the number and the percentage of people living below the poverty line rose, from 11.9 percent in 1999 to 13.2 percent in 2009.

Healthcare:

Between 1999 and 2008 (see Table C-1, Page 59 of the census report), the population of the United States rose 9 percent, but the uninsured population of the United States rose 19.5 percent.

Homeownership:

Once the housing market peaked in the summer of 2006 and foreclosures started to mount, the homeownership rate declined. Today, it stands at 67.6 percent—almost precisely where it was in the fall of 2000.

And yet, I still regularly read pieces from the right talking about economic ruin that will befall us if don't allow tax cuts to continue, or we impose regulations on industry, or we raise the minimum wage, or... you get the picture.

If you read such a piece or talk to such a person, take the time to ask them exactly what a tax-cutting, deregulated, pro-development, anti-worker, poor healthcare, debt-encouraging economy has produced for us. If they have a good answer, please let me know.