No matter how bizarre things got in the presidential campaign we’ve just lived through, American voters—alarmed and agog—could take comfort in this: both candidates promised that the economy will get better. It was the one thing they agreed on.
I put that question to someone who should know—economist and Northwestern University professor Robert J. Gordon. Earlier this year, Gordon published a much-discussed book on this very subject, The Rise and Fall of American Growth.
“Between 1890 and 1940, there was a complete change that revolutionized every aspect of business and household operations and included enormous improvements in health,” Gordon said. “Life expectancy in 1900 was age 47; by 1970 it was 72.”
“And, because many people fall below the average, we’ll see that their standard of living does not exceed [or, perhaps, even equal] that of their parents.”
Maybe then America will be great again. v
Robert J. Gordon appears as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival Sat 11/12, 2 PM Venue Six10, Feinberg Theater 610 S. Michiganchicagohumanities.org $12, $10 members, $5 students and teachers
