A Guided Tour of the United States Economy: Promises among the Perils

If the past is really prologue, the spectacular growth of the U.S. economy over the last 40 years promises prosperity over the next 40 years. Whalen investigates the U.S. economy and the trends and events that created an economic output in 1999 that was 2.5 times greater than what it was in 1959. He shows how economic data are gathered, compiled, analyzed, and reported, and he illustrates what national income and output statistics really mean and how they are constructed. Whalen offers convincing evidence and finds more promise than peril for the future. A fascinating explication of how the U.S. economy works for well-informed readers, this work will be an important resource for students, scholars, and practitioners throughout the public and private sectors.