The Economy Isn't As Bad As We Think

Things are a lot better in America than most Americans think. Or so argues Gregg Easterbrook in today's Wall Street Journal. I've written along similar lines myself. By any historic standards, the American economy is in pretty good shape and living standards are at an all-time high. So how to explain the sour mood? Over the last quarter-century, we've had low-inflation economic growth more than 90 percent of the time. That period covers the entire adult lifetime of the median-age voter. We've gotten so used to good times that we've forgotten what bad times are really like.

The one thing I'd disagree with Easterbrook on is his comments, obligatory in some quarters, that the war in Iraq is going badly. He ought to take a look at Charles Krauthammer's column today. I suspect that Easterbrook, like many who have opposed the Iraq war, has simply not been taking in the good news that has been widely presented by now by mainstream media.

By Michael Barone