“The decade that wasn’t” That’s how Maine’s economist Charles Colgan described the “aughties” (his term for the decade we just finished, but I prefer the “oh’s”). While he sees a final ramp up to recovery in the third quarter this year, he is less optimistic about long term trends.
The decade’s big zero. Start to finish, we didn’t make a lot of progress in the 2000’s. The stock markets were net down, between 10 and 20%. Retail sales in Maine, inflation adjusted, went down 7.8%. Inflation adjusted wages also went down. Population in Maine grew 44,000, but added a net of only 56 jobs (yes, 56, four more than cards in a deck). In comparison, Maine employment saw 13% more jobs in the 1990’s, 28% more in the 1980’s, and 10% more in the 1970’s. What gives?
Zero Sum. Charlie thinks one problem is a national “zero sum” mentality where we operate as if a gain for one group always has to be a loss to another. He believes this zero sum phenomenon has caused havoc in many ways, with two special mentions of politics and management of the earth’s resources. Charlie’s answer is to re-invent ourselves around a mentality of more planned distribution and metered growth where everyone shares in losses and gains. While “zero sum” is an interesting academic construct that may make you think it is a view that seems out of place in a world that, by most measures, has been steadily improving for most people especially when considering hundred year chunks of time. This zero-sum approach sounds a lot like a step toward a planned economy, which the world has shown repeatedly to be disastrous, with China the only big experiment left standing. Innovation is a sloppy business, with most ideas failing before good ones emerge. But they do if given a chance.
I call teh recently passed decade The Noughties.
Don’t forget: we’ve got almost a year to go. Just as the 19th century started on Jan. 1, 1901 and went to Dec 31, 2000, the first decade of this millenium technically runs from 2001 through 2010. Computers are zero-based; calendars aren’t