A Lost Generation

Blog Entry : NOT The Wall Street Journal

A. Grundrisse

November 15^th, 2011

Yesterday’s Bloomberg Web Site reported on a debate held between two well-known economists, Paul Krugman and, my former Economics teacher, Larry Summers over whether the “U.S. Economy will avoid [a] Japan-Like Lost Decade”. Of course, to anyone not a world famous economist the answer is glaringly obvious: We already have experienced one. Median income, as reported by the US Census Bureau, has declined in real terms from $ 51,295 in 1998 to $ 50,303 in 2008. That certainly seems like it qualifies as a lost decade to me. Furthermore, 2008 was the latest year for which I have been able to find data; median income has almost certainly declined further since then. The only question up for debate is whether or not, in the words of Gertrude Stein, we are, in economic terms, A Lost Generation.

I will explore this topic in greater detail in subsequent blog entries.