And the prime interest rate has dropped from over 21 percent to 11 percent. Last year, those pessimists were back again. They told us bad times would go on and on and on. One forecaster said we were on the brink of a major collapse. Far from being weak, this recovery has been one of the strongest since the 1960's.
More people are on the job than ever before in our history.
From solid growth in housing to new frontiers in high technology, from a healthy recovery in real wages to a big improvement in productivity, and from record increases in venture capital to new highs in the stock market, America is moving forward, getting stronger, and confounding everyone who said it can't be done. I only wish this would convince the naysayers to let up a little, but they don't seem willing. This year we're hearing a new variation of their gloomy refrain, not about inflation or interest rates taking off, not about the recovery that won't happen, but about the recovery that can't last. Government deficits, we're told, will kill the recovery by draining capital needed by business to keep the economy expanding. Well, I happen to believe those who underestimated the strength of this recovery may be wrong about the size of future deficits, too.