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The U.S. has undergone three profound periods of pessimism during the past century--the Great Depression of the 1930s, the terrible inflation of the 1970s and the economic crisis today--when Americans have been weighed down by deep doubts about their future progress and with concerns that the expanding opportunities they've come to expect are receding for themselves and their offspring. Yet, once major policy changes were made after both the Depression and the Great Inflation, the country bounced back vigorously.

Government policy mistakes bring on crises; the correction of those mistakes will quickly cure them.