The American Winship Goes On and On

WSJ:

The economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than a decade during the spring and summer, showing the U.S. has strengthened its economic footing despite increasing global uncertainty.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.9% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The upward revision from a first estimate of 3.5% put the combined growth rate in the second and third quarters at 4.25%, affirming the best six-month pace since the second half of 2003. The output figures are inflation adjusted.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thinking about the economy and the improvement that now seems to be picking up speed. I’m thinking about the fact that stocks and 401(k) balances are all-time highs, unemployment is rapidly dropping toward decade-lows and innovation is exploding everywhere I look. I’m thinking about how fortunate we are to live in a country that reinvents itself for every generation – even though the transition period always looks bleak while we’re trudging through it. I’m thinking about the fact that, all things considered, the American capitalist system is still the envy of the world.

My blog turned six this month. I’m really fortunate that each year my audience has grown and readers have stuck with me. I’m proud that I’ve been able to influence people’s thinking in some small way and to have been a constructive voice when so many others were offering noise, pessimism and deliberate confusion in the guise of advice. I’m glad that I’ve met a thousand amazing people through my work here that I never would have crossed paths with otherwise. I’m grateful for my partners and clients and colleagues and friends.

The nation is healing. It hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t always been fair. There’s been plenty of room for dissent about this solution or that. The medicine was unconventional, controversial and slow to take effect, but it’s now undeniably producing the desired effect. Our economy and capital markets are starting to roar again. Participation throughout various regions and economic strata has thus far been uneven, but that’s beginning to change. I’m thankful for the opportunity to benefit from the comeback, the chance to contribute to it and to be a part of a country that I believe is the greatest sociological experiment in the history of mankind.

The American Winship goes on and on.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who’s pulling their weight and serving as a force for growth. Your efforts will not go unrewarded.