American Growth, the Long View Over the long run, growth in real GDP per capita in America has dwarfed the ups and downs of the business cycle. Except for the recession that began the Great Depression, recessions are almost invisible until 2007.
Sources: Angus Maddison, Statistics on World Population, GDP, and Per Capita GDP, 1–2008 AD, http://www.ggdc.net/MADDISON/oriindex.htm; Bureau of Economic Analysis; The Conference Board Total Economy Database™, January 2014.