What is MacroWeb?

The late 1990's will always be remembered for a strong economic performance. The United States had a better economic period during the 1990s then in the previous three decades. Real economic growth averaged 4.5% per year, and unemployment fell to four percent. (see Retrospective on American Economic Policy in the 1990's. Note that sometimes direct access to the paper through this link is blocked, and that you may have to go to the home page of The Brookings Institution and use their search tool to find it.)

In 1998 the Fed reported a surplus of $69 billion, the first surplus since 1969. In 1999 the surplus almost doubled to $124 billion. The 1990s boom was lead by private-sector spending and private-sector employment. Strong growth and low unemployment were joined by budget surpluses and low inflation. The 1993 budget package included very important spending reductions and tax increases. The tax increase was focused on upper-income taxpayers. This fiscal policy is more of a conservative policy as the Clinton administration shifted from their expected increase in government spending and public investment. As a result the deficit fell from $290 billion in 1992 to a series of surpluses in the late 1990s. (see A Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget)

Who is Dave Tufte?

Copyright, Aaron Lancaster, 2002.