Terrify yourself with charts and graphs!

 

United States GDP minus public and privately-held debt for the past 70 years

The graph above comes from Henry Blodget’s convincing if occasionally facile argument about just what is wrong with the United States economy. Notice that the line starts at zero, then start stocking up on canned food. In the years of our so-called decline, gross domestic product has steadily increased. What has increased much more quickly, however—what’s really seen an unprecedented boom since the Carter administration—is debt. We borrow money way better than we make it. We loan money way better than we produce goods and services. By several conventional metrics, the American economy is growing nicely. It’s just not growing as fast as our appetite for free stuff from the future. See what the 70-year growth of GDP and debt look like as separate lines after the jump.

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