Oh, how far we have not come since the start of the Great Recession.
The Economic Policy Institute lays it all out in a new report it released today: “From free-fall to stagnation: Five years after the start of the Great Recession, extraordinary policy measures are still needed, but are not forthcoming.”
Ongoing weakness in the economy boils down almost entirely to a lack of demand, the report says.
Some other key findings from the report:
* As of December 2012, 9.1 million jobs needed to be created to get back to where we were before the recession.
* National output was roughly $1 trillion below what it could have been if the economy were at full employment
* The big jump in federal budget deficits beginning in 2008 is a symptom of the weak economy, and has supported a return to economic growth.
* Too many near- and medium-term economic forecasts assume a return to full employment relatively quickly.
* The U.S. economy is projected to remain depressed, with GDP between $941 billion and over $1.0 trillion below full employment output at the end of 2013.
* Five years after the Great Recession began, “full economic recovery still remains years and years away.”
Click here to read EPI’s full report.
