66 years of 5% growth
Before the detrimental effects of a central bank and of federal regulation and federal spending had a chance to become very counter-productive, economic growth in the USA was phenomenal. For the 66 years from 1863 to 1929, manufacturing output grew 26-fold (average annual growth of 5%):
1863
1929
When left free, output can grow 5% annually, but population levels do not ever grow by 5% annually. The highest growth rate ever achieved for the world population was 2.3% back in 1963:
Up until the year of 1700, world population only grew by 0.04% per year. After 1700, the Industrial Revolution took off and human beings realized that, if left free, wealth can grow immensely.
While observed growth rates in economic output can be very high (or even negative) for a single year, a more valid test is average growth rates that can be high for 60 years.
Because U.S. growth rates were not only high, but were sustained for so long, it indicates that that growth rate wasn’t specific to any given political administration, or to any given climate, or to any given generational mindset, etc.
Because it was too much growth for too long to be just for a specific or special case, it can be surmised that it is generally true that free economies can and will grow by around 5% per year. Contrast that with the “recent-decades” lackluster growth in durable goods consumption in the USA:
And this graph uses the notorious Consumer Price Index to mark inflation, rather than the more accurate method of estimating inflation by the National Average Wage Index put out by the Social Security Administration. When that index is used, consumption of durable goods actually goes down in recent decades.
The evidence shows that, as government intervention grows, then opportunities for regular people dry-up, and the opportunity for them to grow wealth diminishes. While it is generally true that free economies can grow by 5% a year, the USA has not had a “free-enough” economy for at least decades now.
We don’t need a Great Reset, we need a return to sound money, low regulation, low federal spending, and no protectionism/favoritism.