One disturbing fact from the McKinsey report is this: The number of new businesses, a traditional source of jobs, was down 23 percent in 2010 from 2007; the level was the lowest since 1983, when America had about 75 million fewer people. Large corporations are standoffish. They have about $2 trillion of cash and securities on their balance sheets, which could be used for hiring and investing in new products. Meanwhile, the latest University of Michigan Survey of Consumers reports that \u201crecord numbers \u201d\u00a6 thought that their incomes would lag inflation over the next five years.\u201d\u009d Note: They didn\u2019t expect high inflation so much as low income growth.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that economics achieved nothing. The emergency measures thrown at the crisis in many countries \u201d\u201d exceptionally low interest rates, \u201cstimulus\u201d\u009d programs of extra spending and tax cuts \u201d\u201d probably averted another Depression. But it\u2019s also true that there\u2019s now no consensus among economists as to how to strengthen the recovery.<\/p>\n