Michael Darda of MKM Partners:
There has been only one fiscal recession in the last 100 years, and even that one (1945) was accompanied by a monetary slowdown. Moreover, during this so-called recession, unemployment rose from an unsustainable 1% to a still-low 3%; the DJIA rose 20% from the peak of the business cycle to the trough. Perhaps this occurred because the recession was exclusively a public sector phenomenon; private GDP was soaring.
A few key charts from Darda:
Here is some more about the strange 1945 recession and what it says about austerity.
Seriously? GIs came home from the war with pent-up demand the likes of which America has not seen since, and five years of forced savings to make it happen. The GI Bill was a major investment in human capital.
What we have today is spent-up demand. The real estate boom fueled not only housing starts but remodels, additions, new appliances and cars. Then the bust took out $7 trillion in household wealth. College is a fading dream in terms of both cost and benefit.
Other than that….