The American economy seems headed in the opposite direction of the “golden age” Donald Trump promised in his inaugural address.

It’s been a long time since the United States had a “normal” recession. COVID-19 brought on a brief, sharp downturn in early 2020, but it was not a “normal” one of the sort that capitalism produces regularly. The last business cycle recession was the one often called “great” because of its length and depth. It formally lasted from January 2008 to June 2009 and lingered for many more months. Almost nine million jobs disappeared, and it took over six years to regain them.

It was very bad, but it was hardly unique. Since World War II, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the official arbiter of booms and busts, we’ve had a recession once

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