I miss the 90s. I started my academic career in the late 90s before the internet bubble burst. I remember taking Econ classes and the talking point was that the Fed has gotten so good at what they do, we will never see a recession again.
I was an econ major in the middle of the Great Recession and couldn't keep up with everything that was going on in the world. I wonder if those events influence different "generations" of economists.
My undergrad (post great recession) was full of questions of why inflation was so low and steady. I remember some folks asking if inflation was a thing of the past. Interesting to see how different "eras" show up in real-time in the classroom.
This article really helped me understand why the 1990s economy stands out so much. I didn’t realize how the mix of steady growth, low inflation, and rising productivity made the decade feel unusually stable. The explanations about globalization, NAFTA, and early tech growth also made it clearer how the foundations of today’s economy were being built back then.
One thing I would’ve liked to see a bit more of is how these trends affected everyday people across different income levels. The big-picture view was really helpful, but a little more detail on how households experienced these changes would have made the analysis even stronger.
"Politicians from both parties have talked about reducing spending"
Yeah, usually in the context of being against it. Perhaps not explicitly in campaign stumps, but in all the stuff they continue to support spending on.
Libertarians have been economically sound forever, but no one takes third parties seriously, as evidence by the very term "both parties".
I don't miss the fashion of the 90s at all. Pegged jeans??? Don't miss the slow speeds of the Blacksburg Electronic Village either.
I would suggest that the creation of the World Trade Organization laid the foundation for the rules-based global economic expansion of the last 25 years. Yes, specialization creates change, but for those who adapt to the change, the past 25 years have been pretty good (American IT workers and East-Asian factory workers).
I showed up for my junior year and there was this funny looking port in the wall. Nobody knew what to do with us. They told us, "it's for the internet." That didn't help much...
I guess you could say the WTO was a step (major) on the long march from Bretton Woods/GATT. I wonder if we'll regret admitting China to the WTO - causal to today's policies of throwing up trade barriers?
Man greenspan was already ancient even back then. To be fair to krugman he was on to something not that he didn't underestimate the internet he did. But society underestimated the fax machine. It still exists today and is usually a important component in modern day copy machines.
You should have seen my first draft of this article. Substack warned me it was too long, and I spent the entire weekend trying to figure out what things to cut out to make it more digestible.
I miss the 90s. I started my academic career in the late 90s before the internet bubble burst. I remember taking Econ classes and the talking point was that the Fed has gotten so good at what they do, we will never see a recession again.
I was an econ major in the middle of the Great Recession and couldn't keep up with everything that was going on in the world. I wonder if those events influence different "generations" of economists.
My undergrad (post great recession) was full of questions of why inflation was so low and steady. I remember some folks asking if inflation was a thing of the past. Interesting to see how different "eras" show up in real-time in the classroom.
This article really helped me understand why the 1990s economy stands out so much. I didn’t realize how the mix of steady growth, low inflation, and rising productivity made the decade feel unusually stable. The explanations about globalization, NAFTA, and early tech growth also made it clearer how the foundations of today’s economy were being built back then.
One thing I would’ve liked to see a bit more of is how these trends affected everyday people across different income levels. The big-picture view was really helpful, but a little more detail on how households experienced these changes would have made the analysis even stronger.
"By the end of 2000, there were 416 million internet users worldwide, up about 2 million from a decade earlier."
I suspect that should read "up FROM about 2 million. . ."
Great catch! I appreciate you calling that out so that I could get it fixed on the web version.
"Politicians from both parties have talked about reducing spending"
Yeah, usually in the context of being against it. Perhaps not explicitly in campaign stumps, but in all the stuff they continue to support spending on.
Libertarians have been economically sound forever, but no one takes third parties seriously, as evidence by the very term "both parties".
I don't miss the fashion of the 90s at all. Pegged jeans??? Don't miss the slow speeds of the Blacksburg Electronic Village either.
I would suggest that the creation of the World Trade Organization laid the foundation for the rules-based global economic expansion of the last 25 years. Yes, specialization creates change, but for those who adapt to the change, the past 25 years have been pretty good (American IT workers and East-Asian factory workers).
I found a Wikipedia page on the BEV, so thanks for that nugget of local lore.
The creation of the WTO is a great consideration. That one always seems to be further in the back of my mind for some reason.
I showed up for my junior year and there was this funny looking port in the wall. Nobody knew what to do with us. They told us, "it's for the internet." That didn't help much...
I guess you could say the WTO was a step (major) on the long march from Bretton Woods/GATT. I wonder if we'll regret admitting China to the WTO - causal to today's policies of throwing up trade barriers?
Man greenspan was already ancient even back then. To be fair to krugman he was on to something not that he didn't underestimate the internet he did. But society underestimated the fax machine. It still exists today and is usually a important component in modern day copy machines.
You should have seen my first draft of this article. Substack warned me it was too long, and I spent the entire weekend trying to figure out what things to cut out to make it more digestible.
I loved it. Nostalgia for me.