First Draft of September 1 Principles of Macroeconomics Lecture: Depression Economics

2.1. The Need for Depression Economics

2.1.1. The Coming of the Great Recession

In December 2006 63.4% of American adults of working age had jobs. By December 2009 only 58.2% had jobs. Over those same three years the unemployment rate--which looks at a narrower group, not all American adults but only those who say that they are actively looking for work and would take a job if offered one--jumped from 4.4% to 10.0%.

Total production in the economy had stood at a level of $13.06 trillion...