Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Declining Economic Growth

One of my favorite charts is one that should be cited by all economists, but more so is one that should scare you is the 20 Year Rolling Average of Real GDP Growth. The reason I like this chart is that when "raw" RGDP growth is looked at there isn't much of a trend that can be discerned;


But when you average it out of 20 years to give you a sense of "generational" production or "generational" growth, well, you see people preferring to watch more American Idol than getting off their lazy asses and producing something of value;


Now the reason this is scary, and scarier than it was about 2 years ago when I originally calculated this chart, is that in order to pay for all those goodies the socialists used to bribe the moronic masses into voting for them...err...ummm....I mean "in order to pay for all those kind, caring, compassionate (yet impossible to pay for) programs" the only way to pay for them is through economic growth. But with economic growth declining, precisely how do we pay for just these two items?



Let alone all the new spending good ole Barack Obama has promised?

I know, I know, we can't. I'm just trying to establish a track record so as to pre-establish "I told you so rights" in the future.

So, hey, so long, and thanks for all the fish!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved the rolling 20 year RGDP graph. But how do you reconcile your argument that our generation is lazy with the fact that we are the most productive workers, by far, in the world? I would think the graph trends down because the global competition is increasing, not because we're lazy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6976084.stm

Anonymous said...

It looks to me like growth was pretty steady until 1981. I wonder what happened in 1981 that would cause output to rise at a declining rate...could it be that this was when personal computers started appearing on desks, thereby bringing solitaire to the workplace?

Robert of Ottawa said...

You are, of course, correct. And yet, Obambi is bouncing around giving (other peoples) money to every non-productive (did I say socialist) cause going.

It's pretty dispiriting ... and I'M A CANADIAN!!!

Hot Sam said...

Oh, but you missed Obama's sleight of hand, taught to him by David Axelrod. His health care plan, whatever that is, will LOWER health care costs and therefore lower the rising costs of medicare.

Too bad neither Obama or Axelrod is an economist, otherwise they'd understand that universal coverage will increase demand which will increase the cost of healthcare. They think electronic medical records and expenditures on preventive medicine will save money. Fools.

The State said...

thought you might enjoy this twitter

http://twitter.com/ourenemy

it's from the point of view of the state

thanks guys!

CBMTTek said...

And, when you try to share this information with the socialists, err... I mean the poor downtrodden people repressed by the Bush regime, they swear up and down that they are the most productive generation alive.

But, when you ask the average teenager if they want a job at BK, or a paper route, they laugh at you. I went to high school with them, and their kids are even worse. They want something, mommy or daddy buy it for them. If they lose something, they get a replacement for free from their parents. This process continues well into their 30s.

And, they vote the same way.

CBMTTek said...

Robert:

Love the health care comment. I was at my doctor the other day, and I asked for a discount because now he can use computers to file all my records. He should be saving a ton.

He is still laughing.

Hot Sam said...

The VA was one of the first organizations to have fully electronic medical records. They are, without a doubt, better. MRI results, blood test results, and even dental x-rays go straight to electrons.

But after my day-long ordeal at the VA last Friday, if that's the vision of the future of American health care, I'm out of here. I'll post the story on my blog by next week - it will be a must-read for anyone who thinks government run health care is the solution.