Mary N. reviewed on 1/17/2013 + 6 more book reviews

The author attempts to debunk "declinists"--numerous writers and pundits who have found evidence of economic decline. However, he relies on anecdotes and selected statistics, and focuses on the period following the Great Recession of 2008. Many of the declinists focus on longer-term economic phenomena, dating back to the 1970s or 1980s. It's the longer-term and broader perspective that I found most missing in this book. The chapter "More Like North Dakota," which describes the recent rapid growth of economic activity in ND due to oil extraction and strong markets for their agrcultural products, should be followed by a chapter titled "Why the Other 49 States Aren't Like North Dakota." Read it for its sunny take on why there may be cause for limited optimism near-term, but not for a better understanding of the fundamental forces shaping the U.S. economy long-term.

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