abated only slowly. therefore, the first idiosyncratic reason why these recoveries were tepid was likely that the preceding recessions were caused by shocks that proved to have longer - lasting effects and that were more difficult to counteract than expected. in the wake of the two recent downturns, further idiosyncratic shocks hit the economy, exacerbating the sluggishness of the recoveries. in the early 1990s, the collapse of savings and loan institutions and the need to repair the capital structure of the banking industry led to a period in which the flow of credit to businesses was impaired - the so - called credit crunch. facing limited access to credit, businesses - especially small businesses - curtailed hiring and capital expenditures. after the trough in 2001, the banking industry was much sounder. however, the economy was still adjusting to the excess capital spending from the late 1990s. equipment takes years to depreciate ; so when firms realized that they had purchased more than they needed, they did not feel compelled to raise their level of capital expenditures again for quite some time. indeed, this “ overhang ” of capital has likely contributed to the impressive growth in productivity over the past few years, as businesses have made more and better use of the high - tech equipment they had previously installed but underexploited. besides the boom - bust cycle in capital spending, the u. s. economy confronted the terrorist attacks of 2001, the corporate governance scandals of 2002, and the 2003 war in iraq. clearly, such an uncertain and risky environment, which led many firms to question the durability and strength of the recovery, encouraged neither the creation of new jobs nor the expansion of capacity. this discussion of the post - recession shocks that damped the pace of the most recent two recoveries does not imply that similar obstacles were absent in earlier recoveries. the early stages of previous recoveries also contained events that legitimately raised concerns about the vitality and viability of the upturns. indeed, at the beginning of each recovery for at least the past fifty years, some observers expressed concern that various factors might result in a tepid recovery. in 1982, for instance, as the united states emerged from recession, growth in the rest of the world was moribund, and the international financial system was considered fragile. other concerns were that the length of the recession would make consumers and businesses cautious and that changes in the economy would lead to prolonged structural unemployment.

janet l yellen : the bureau of labor statistics – a trusted us agency ( brief remarks ) speech by ms janet l yellen, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the induction of carroll d. wright and janet l. norwood into the department of labor ’ s hall of honor, us department of labor, washington dc, 20 october 2015. * * * we are here to honor two exceptional public servants and the great institution they helped build. let ’ s consider for a moment why the bureau of labor statistics ( bls ) has succeeded and how carroll wright and janet norwood contributed to that success. in 1884, a time of great strife and mistrust between management and labor, the federal government created an agency with the mission of providing detailed and objective information on american workers. that task fell to carroll wright, who had won the confidence of workers and management as chief of the massachusetts bureau of labor statistics in the years after that state became the first to legalize labor unions. at that point, before the united states itself had recognized such rights and before the federal government could agree on labor standards, the public needed an unimpeachable assessment of the conditions faced by workers. under carroll wright, what was then called the bureau of labor investigated major labor disputes and issued reports that shaped public opinion and were the basis for executive action and legislation. he initiated the collection of data on hours, wages, and prices and was responsible for many important advances that successively improved the reliability of these data. the respect for the thoroughness and objectivity of the research that wright oversaw led to the dismantling of damaging trade barriers in the 1890s and later raised public awareness about the deplorable conditions faced by women in the workplace. in the u. s. constitution, there is not a requirement that government statistics be accurate and free of political influence or bias. carroll wright recognized that this simple, powerful idea could help build public confidence for the government ’ s effort to reduce conflicts between management and workers and move our nation forward. he and others are responsible for a fundamental feature of our democracy that is now often taken for granted – the public ’ s expectation and insistence that information provided by the government can be trusted. to carroll wright ’ s descendants, one of whom is with us today, thank you, on his behalf, for this valuable contribution. this legacy lives on in the agency carroll wright founded, and few of his successors did as much to advance this principle as janet