¶ … American slowdown" is written in April 2008, just before the U.S. entered the period of official recession, but also before some of the resounding financial failures such as the demise of financial institutions as the AIG or Lehman Brothers, along with the stimulus packages that will either take the country out of the recession or make the budgetary deficit more palpable. From this perspective, it is interesting to see the perspective of people a year ago, when everybody estimated that this is likely to be a shallow, but potentially a lengthy recovery will follow.

Such a premise is no longer so valid. Many of the estimates point out that it will only be some time next year that the U.S. economy is likely to pick up, which is a very long time for a recession, if we consider that 2008 can also be considered a recession year. The idea that the recovery is going to be lengthy can also be debated, especially since we consider the measures that the Obama Administration has already taken and the money pumped in the economy. At the same time, one also needs to consider that after the economic depression of 1929, it wasn't until 1945 that the economy could be considered as having resumed the same levels as before.

The authors point out that a slower growth (and a slow recovery) may be what the world economy actually needs, because it would be a more sustainable growth and it would allow the developing countries to correlate the macroeconomic mechanisms with this economic growth. Nevertheless, in my opinion, a slower recovery in the U.S. will have a negative impact on all the countries that use the U.S. As their main commercial partner.

Bibliography

1. The Great American Slowdown. Economist.com. On the Internet at http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11016333.Lastretrieved on March 20, 2009

The Great American Slowdown. Economist.com. On the Internet at http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11016333.Lastretrieved on March 20, 2009