I doubt anyone believes these are the worst of times, but just where do things stand?
I'm copying graphs from my favorite stat geek, Kevin Drum. His blog has been the source of many interesting and important things. He's fighting cancer, so I wish him the best!
All those FAA regulations, and look at those blue and yellow lines drop.
All those regulations, and somehow fatalities are down. Here you can see the
specific thing introduced and then changes thereafter. It's a great record.
The workplace has also been a dangerous place. Is it safer today?
This is quite impressive too. Despite workplace safety rules by OSHA, there is no place on the curve with a big upswing. Only in 1974 (it seems) there was a small blip. Teddy Roosevelt would have loved it.
GDP volatility -- This one is really interesting because the "regulation" seems so uncertain.
Yes, it's that dramatically different. The "Free Market" era was a lot more volatile. There has been computerization since the 1980s (or at least 1990), and there have been a zillion changes to do with enabling the little guy retail customers in, but still, look at those graph lines. Clearly, a regulated economy and markets does work.
Conclusion
These reflect some macro changes to our economy since the 1940s or even the 1960s. It's a time which my siblings, and friends of a similar age, were part of. We participated, voted, argued for, and got a lot of the things which improved America. This is a lot of reason to be proud.
