Comparison to the 1980s

I vividly remember living in the early 1980s. Economic conditions were very, very tough then. Thankfully, Fed Chairman Paul Volker and President Ronald Reagan took decisive steps to pull us through that horrid time--and in doing so set in motion economic growth in the US which we enjoyed through the late 1990s.

I've been writing a lot lately about the current unemployment situation. Things are pretty rough out there for those without a job.

In a smaller sense we can at least be thankful that the recession seems about over--and that other economic indicators are looking good.



The following chart reminds us of how things looked back in the early 1980s versus today. From this perspective it could be a whole lot worse for all Americans.