Revenge of the Old Economy
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3705448/
America's amazing recent run has little to do with Internet miracles
By Robert J. Samuelson
Newsweek International
Dec. 22 issue - Judging from the statistics, the New Economy is back.
Once American companies figured out how to use all that technology
they bought in the late 1990s, the dividends have been huge, or so it
seems. Economic growth has soared, with U.S. gross domestic product
increasing at a sizzling rate of 8.2 percent in the third quarter.
Productivity has exploded to a 5.5 percent annual rate since the end
of 2001—twice the level of the late 1990s. Inflation is virtually
nonexistent, and even the recently stalled American job machine has
sprung into action. Since July, payroll employment is up 328,000. The
New Economy seems to be alive and well. The story is plausible,
reassuring—and wrong. Something else entirely happened.
Robert J. Samuelson
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