The Challenges of This Century
This article is excerpted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy,
published by the Bureau of International Information Programs.
"We are still the nation that has overcome great fears and improbable
odds."
President Barack Obama
United States of America
2010
The economy of the United States, which generates nearly $15 trillion a
year in goods and services, is the largest in the world and, by most measures,
the most innovative and productive.
American households and employers make millions of daily decisions about
what to spend, invest and save. Many layers of laws, policies, regulations and
court decisions both constrain and stimulate these decisions. The resulting
economy reflects market and individual choices but is also structured and shaped
by politics, policies and laws.
This edition of Outline of the U.S. Economy, updated in 2012, offers
historical context for understanding the interplay of individual economic
decisions and the legal and political framework that surrounds them. It is a
primer on how the U.S. economic system emerged, how it works and how it is
shaped by American social values and political institutions.
The United States' entrepreneurial and opportunistic culture supports
competition and risk taking in the economy, but many Americans also rely on
government social "safety nets" to help them through unemployment and
retirement. These conflicting currents shape the U.S. economy. The most
fundamental questions about how the U.S. economy works and which policies best
serve the nation have been debated since the nation's founding. Today's
economists and political leaders continue the debate.
For more than two centuries the U.S. economy has responded to new
opportunities and rewarded long-term investment - but it has also proved
vulnerable to booms and crashes. The cycle of highs and lows swung violently in
the first decade of the 21st century, culminating in the global financial panic
of 2008 and the "great recession" that followed.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)
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