The Good Old Days

Feeling a little bit nostaligic. Sometimes its a good idea to take a look back and remember where we came from. Its easy for things to get lost as the time slips by. Was wondering where we were in the United States about 8 years. It's amazing how much things can change...

• The president had 65% approval rating, the highest end-of-term approval rating of any President since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
  
  
• Average economic growth of 4.0 percent per year, compared to average growth of 2.8 percent during the Bush Senior administration.
  
  
• The economy had grown for 116 consecutive months, the most in history.
  
  
• More then 22.5 million jobs had been created—the most jobs ever created under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous 12 years (bush and reagan). Of the total new jobs, 20.7 million, or 92 percent, were in the private sector.
  
  
• Economic gains spurred an increase in family incomes for all Americans. Since 1993, real median family income increased by $6,338, from $42,612 in 1993 to $49,950 in 2000 (in 2000 dollars).
  
  
• Overall unemployment was at its lowest level in more than 30 years, down from 6.9 percent in 1993 to just 4.0 percent in January 2001. The unemployment rate was below 5 percent for 40 consecutive months.
  
  
• Unemployment for African Americans was 7.3 percent in 2000, the lowest rate on record.
  
  
• Unemployment for Hispanics fell from 11.8 percent in October 1992 to 5.0 percent in 2000, also the lowest rate on record.
  
  
• Inflation was at its lowest rate since the Kennedy Administration, averaging 2.5 percent, and fell from 4.7 percent during the bush senior administration.
  
  
• The poverty rate declined from 15.1 percent in 1993 to 11.8 percent in 1999, the largest six-year drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. This left 7 million fewer people in poverty than there were in 1993 and they were at their lowest percentage since 1969. The lowest poverty rates for single mothers, black Americans, and the aged ever recorded.
  
  
• The government had an economic surplus. The surplus in fiscal year 2000 was $237 billion—the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever.
  
  
• The cost for a barrel of oil was under $30 a barrel. The cost of a gallon of gas was $1.17
  

There are of course more things that have changed. An invasion of a foreign country for no reason hadn't occured recently. Banks weren't failing. No congressional sessions to bailout financial institutions, people could pay their mortgage...

Kind of brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it? I long for the good old days...