it wasn’t a recession?
a few days ago, i mentioned the two-year decline in american incomes. the “escape clause” was that the income decline occured during a recession. nevermind that other recessions since 1953 hadn’t produced income declines. today, that escape clause vanishes in the face of new economic data from the department of commerce.
US 2001 Slump May Not Have Been Recession at All [reuters, july 30, 2004]Not only was the U.S. recession in 2001 the shallowest on record, it may not have been one at all — at least in the classic sense of two straight quarterly declines, new government data show.
so american incomes fell, despite a “flat” economy.
update (2004.07.31): somehow, i knew a “non-recession recession” would be irresistable over there. barry brings a different perspective (of course).