Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “Unintended Consequences provides a provocative interpretation of the causes of the global financial crisis and the policies needed to return to rapid growth. Whether you agree or not, this analysis is well worth reading.” - Nouriel Roubini, New York University; Chairman, Roubini Global Economics
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “Unintended Consequences represents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the Financial Crisis to date.” - Andrei Shleifer, 1999 John Bates Clark Medal Winner
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “Unintended Consequences is far smarter and more thought-provoking than most economics written for the general public” - Greg Mankiw, Harvard University, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
  • “Unintended Consequences is full of substance, it is one of the must-read books of the year, and once I finish it I will be giving it a second read through right away.” - Tyler Cowen, Professor, George Mason University
  • “There are an amazing number of good ideas and interesting points made in Unintended Consequences. The thinking underlying it, and the obvious depth of understanding of the author, are very impressive.” - Steven Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics; 2004 John Bates Clark Medal
  • “Unintended Consequences offers deep and well-argued analyses on almost every issue.” - The New York Times
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Upside of Inequality Oxford Unintended Consequences

AI Summary. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product per person has grown at a 1.9% annual pace over the past 10 years, above the 1.7% of the 2010s and 0.8% of the 2000s and just below the 2.1% of the 1980s and 1990s. Avoiding prolonged recessions has supported household incomes and wages.

Justin Fox Bloomberg
Date Posted:

Real median household income and real wages have risen since the mid-2010s, as real GDP per capita grew 1.9% annually over the past decade. Average real weekly earnings have grown since 2010, after falling substantially between 1973 and 1990.

Have incomes and output per person grown faster than in recent decades?

Core argument: U.S. per-capita GDP has grown at a 1.9% annual inflation-adjusted pace over the past 10 years, exceeding the 1.7% of the 2010s and 0.8% of the 2000s.

Some of the increase in both household incomes and wages can be chalked up to steady economic growth. Per-capita gross domestic product has risen at a 1.9% annual, inflation-adjusted pace over the past 10 years, which doesn’t sound like much but is better than in the 2010s (1.7%) and 2000s (0.8%) and only slightly below the 2.1% growth rate of the 1980s and 1990s and 2.2% of the 1970s.Avoiding recessions — and ensuring that the unusual pandemic-caused downturn in 2020 was short-lived — has done a lot for Americans’ incomes.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. U.S. per-capita GDP has grown at a 1.9% annual inflation-adjusted pace over the past 10 years, exceeding the 1.7% of the 2010s and 0.8% of the 2000s.
  2. The 1.9% per-capita GDP growth rate of the past decade sits only slightly below the 2.1% pace of the 1980s and 1990s and the 2.2% pace of the 1970s.
  3. Avoiding recessions and keeping the pandemic-caused 2020 downturn short-lived has done a lot for Americans’ incomes, with steady economic growth accounting for some of the rise in household incomes and wages.

Related Articles:

  • What Six Years of Inflation Mean for the Midterms — US consumer prices have risen almost 29% over the past six years, about 3x the pace of the prior six years, and on average prices have risen faster than wages over that period.
  • Income in the United States: 2025 — Median U.S. household income rose 2.6% to $87,460, the highest level on record in data going back to 1967. Median income increased 3% for White households, 2.9% for non-Hispanic White households, and 4.8% for Black households, while changes for Asian and Hispanic households were not statistically significant.
  • US Focus: The Effect Of Soaring Profits — US nominal pre-tax corporate profits in the national accounts grew 23% over the past year, a pace not seen outside post-recession spikes since the mid-2000s. Wider margins were the key driver, as domestic profit growth far exceeded the 8% rise in corporate value added, pushing margins near all-time highs while the labor share hit new lows.
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