In the twentieth century measured U.S. real GDP per worker increased by nearly 300%. True real GDP per worker probably increased by about one percent per year more--for a total growth over the century of some 700%, perhaps. The fall in the work year with the spread of the eight-hour day, the paid vacation, and part-time work means that total output per workhour probably grew by 850%.
Relative to this--very strong--long- run growth, all of the business cycles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are small potatoes. Only the Great Depression is powerful enough to cause any substantial interruption of long-run growth.
Audio: http://j-bradford-delong.net/2007_audio/113_10_03_07.mp3
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