Friday, June 8, 2018

US Recessions


US recessions have been noted since 1785.

The Early Recession period recorded over 49 years from 1785 to 1834 lists 11 recessions lasting a total of 26 years. This period included the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 debt and the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 that added 827,000 square miles of land area to the US for $15 million. We were set to expand the US land mass to the Pacific Ocean. The Industrial Revolution began and railroads construction began in 1980. Our accomplishments far outweighed our difficulties.

The next period of 92 years began in 1835 and ended in 1927. There were 24 recessions lasting a total of 42 years. These recessions were determined by reductions in business activity from 1836 to 1927. This period included the Mexican War of 1846, the Civil War of 1861 and World War I in 1917 the American Indian Wars ending in 1890 and the Spanish American War in 1898. This was the period of Western expansion and settlement, the Industrial Revolution and the development of electricity, sanitary sewers, water treatment, railroad and road expansion and the invention of the automobile, airplane, telegraph, telephone and radio. The change from a free market economy to a managed economy occurred with the creation of the Federal Reserve and US Income Tax in 1913.

The current period of 90 years from 1928 to 2018 reports 14 recessions lasting a total of 76 years. These recessions were determined by reductions in GDP from 1928 to 2018.
This period included the Great Depression in 1929, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Middle East Wars of the 1990s and 2000s. The Federal Reserve money printing created the Inflation that plagued this period. A loaf of bread that used to cost 2 cents now costs $4. Federal spending in 1928 was $3.7 billion, not in 2018 it is $4 trillion. Socialist welfare programs initiated in the 1930s and 1960s have grown to 60% of unconstitutional federal spending.

The 144 years of recessions over the past 233 years have been due to wars, expansion, debt, banking problems and economic evolution driven by changes in technology that disrupted the economy.

All wars the US fought since 1900 were not fought to defend our borders, they were fought to defend other countries and most could be regarded as military foreign aid.

We are currently attempting to recover from the Great Recession triggered by the 2008 Mortgage Meltdown, the off-shoring of US manufacturing in 1993 and excessive immigration. We are swimming in debt with a $21 trillion National Debt, $124 trillion in unfunded liabilities and $13 trillion in household debt.


Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader


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