Bill Burgess, Tom Walker, and others were talking about profitability. I just looked at the profits/GDP series for a piece in LBO comparing the present expansion with previous postwar US expansions. Not to give it all away before it even reaches subscribers, I'll say that on most indicators, the 1991- upswing is middling-to-poor - except profits, which have been in an uptrend (as a % of GDP) since the early 1980s. Nonres fixed investment, though, isn't terrific, and more of it seems to be done by financial firms, whose contribution to human welfare is open to challenge. There haven't been any capital stock figures since 1994's, so it's impossible to do profits/K estimates. But that series follows a similar pattern - a decline from the early 50s into the early 80s, and a ragged uptrend since. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>
