HAPPY TALK |
We clearly face serious economic and financial challenges today. However, there are also many favorable developments taking place within the U.S. economy. This piece focuses ONLY on the “good” news…
• For every dollar of U.S. economic output generated today, we burn less than half as much oil as 30 years ago
• Donations to charity set an all-time high in 2007, with more than $300 billion donated by individuals, foundations, and corporations. As a percentage of GDP, Americans gave twice as much as the next most charitable nation … England
• Productivity of the average U.S. worker rose an average of 2.6% annually during the past 10 years, the largest gains in 40 years. Rising productivity is a long-term key to higher standards of living
• The number of people who have quit smoking (46 million) now exceeds the number who still smoke (45 million). Roughly 21% of adults smoke today, versus nearly half in the early 1950s
• U.S. exports to China have risen roughly 24% per year since 2001, making China the fastest growing market for U.S. goods
• Violent crime overall is down 55% since 1993, with violence by teens down 71%. School violence has declined by half from a decade ago
• Air pollution declined 25% over the past 30 years even as the population and the economy grew. Water quality also continues to improve. More progress will occur in coming years as companies see rising value in “going green”
• For the second time in two decades, the U.S. airline industry did not have a passenger fatality or major accident in 2007
• The upward “mobility” of the typical American remains the greatest in the world. Why? The U.S. economy “rewards” the combination of hard work and educational achievement more than ever before … and more than any other country in the world
• During the early 1960s, the five-year survival rate from cancer for Americans was one in three. Today it is two in three … continuing to climb … and the highest in the world
• Police officer deaths during 2008’s first six months were the lowest in 43 years
• A year-end 2007 Gallup Poll noted that “more than 8 in 10 Americans say they are satisfied with their personal lives at this time, including a solid majority who say they are ‘very satisfied’”
• Childhood obesity, which rose sharply over the past two decades, appears to have stabilized
• The U.S. still accounts for roughly 40% of global research and development (R&D) spending
• A record 29% of men have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, versus 26% of women, also a record. This compares to a combined 7.7% in 1960. A record 84.6% of adults over age 25 now have at least a high school diploma, versus 24.5% in 1940
• Seat belt usage by Americans is currently at 82%, versus 49% in 1990 and 14% in 1983
• Flexible work schedules are now the norm for 43% of workers, up from 29% in 1992 and 13% in 1985. This allows greater flexibility for more people, especially those with children
• In 1967, only one family in 25 earned today’s equivalent of $100,000 or more. Today, one in six families does. The share of families earning more than $75,000 annually in real dollars has tripled from 9% to 27%, while the share of families earning between $5,000 and $50,000 in real dollars has fallen by 19% since 1967
• The U.S. role of dominance in the global economy in recent years has been as clear-cut as at any time since the 1950s
Jeff Thredgold is an economic consultant to Zions Bank
Featured in the Winter 2009 Issue of Zions Bank’s Insight newsletter within the January/February 2009 issue of the Community magazine.
*Artwork from arimoore under Creative Commons license at Flickr.com.
It would appear that many of your statistics are carefully selected and tailored to support your desired conclusion – as is typical with politicians, the FDA, and BigPharma. The fact remains that many of us ‘common folk’ see the BIG BAILOUT as serving only a select few at the top and only encouraging reckless debt – at our expense, of course.
It is a pleasure to read that the whole word has not ended
Thanks