Fiery Comebacks Ain't Want They Used to Be

When countries went into recessions in the past they usually came out with a year or two of rapid growth that more than made up the ground lost in the recession and then resumed a normal growth path until the next recession. That hasn't been the case in any major wealthy country following the 2008 downturn, although some countries, notably those in the euro zone, have done markedly worse than others.

Perhaps it is this comparison to the weak performance of the euro zone countries that led a p...