Uh, you were there...
Yes I was...born in 1944. That's why I wonder why someone would think those times were so great. Yeah the economy was great....during the 1960s the United States experienced its longest uninterrupted period of economic expansion in history. While there were good things happening, not everything was positive. By the end of the 1960s, economic prosperity was being eroded by persistent inflation. The Sixties dominated by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, the 60s also saw the assassinations of US President John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In the 1970s, moves meant to prevent unemployment instead did the opposite, ... Yet these unusually bad economic times were preceded by a period in which ... Some actually thought that the great inflation was a good thing. As inflation accelerated and interest rates began to rise rapidly in the late 1970s, many S&Ls began to suffer extensive losses. The rates they had to pay to attract deposits rose sharply, but the amount they earned on long-term fixed-rate mortgages didn't change.
For many people in the United States, the late 1970s were a troubled and troubling time. The radical and countercultural movements of the 1960s and early 1970s, the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, uncertainty in the Middle East and economic crisis at home had undermined Americans' confidence in their fellow citizens and in their government.
Does any of this seem familiar? The populist conservative movement known as the New Right enjoyed unprecedented growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It appealed to a diverse assortment of Americans, including evangelical Christians; anti-tax crusaders; advocates of deregulation and smaller markets; advocates of a more powerful American presence abroad; disaffected white liberals; and defenders of an unrestricted free market.
In the early 1980s, the American economy was suffering through a deep recession. Business bankruptcies rose sharply compared to previous years. Farmers also suffered due to a decline in agricultural exports, falling crop prices, and rising interest rates. The 80's decade (group of ten years) is sometimes called the "Greed decade". The annual inflation rate remained under 5 percent from 1983 through 1987, which was a good thing. Federal deficits soared throughout the 1980s. The U.S. trade deficit hit a record that same year. A stock market crash in the autumn of 1987 led many to question the stability of the economy.
The U.S. economy dipped into recession in 1991, and then began a slow recovery in 1992. As a result of the poor economy and other factors, the federal budget deficit began heading upward again. The financial industry was particularly plagued with problems, with numerous savings institutions, as well as some banks and insurance companies, either collapsing or falling into such a shaky state that the federal government had to take them over.
Don't get me wrong, there were good times too. It seems in many cases the younger and more innocent of the world one is the better everything seems. Our memories and how they play out are interesting. Many people choose to remember positive experiences rather than negative ones. Sometimes, I think these people are the wise ones. Others argue that you have to be realistic about the past imperfect if you are to forge forward. So yeah, I sometimes am nostalgic about the good ol' days, but I also remember the not so good ol' days too.
Good Ol' Days
The Script
Up in the bar all smoking cigars
While we were drinking Irish whiskey straight from the jar
Talkin' 'bout them better days are not that far
Whoever's coming back to mine you better bring the guitar
You play a sad song, yea sing it from the heart
Tell a sad story, yea tell it from the start
Pass me on the pain that you made into art
Yeah, pierce it through my skin like a heroin dart
When
Someone strummin' on the strings and they're spittin' things
Everybody's movin' groovin' vibes when the other sings
They gon' kill you with the passion and the soul
When the first verse drops, you be fighting back the tears and all
While another man's crying in his beers and all
While his woman is sayin' cheers to it all
Ain't no shame in the game, just the way we were…
