The real Gross Domestic Product of the United States from 1929-2009 in billions of USD, with dollar values chained to 2005. When inflation is factored into the GDP, the rapid 2008-2009 decline marks the largest annual drop in production on record. I'm really not convinced that a collapse of this magnitude can be fixed by giving more money to the corporations responsible for it, nor am I particularly pleased that the money they're giving away was provided by taxpayers. Despite the media's assurances that the recovery is here, the unemployment rate is still increasing and many people's saving accounts are shrinking. Allison Kilkenny probably described most people's experiences of capitalism in the US best when she said, "Capitalism: all the risk of gambling minus any chance of ever actually winning."
Source: United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://www.bea.gov/)
