The dismal growth statistics released in Washington last week suggested that Jimmy Carter had inherited a still wobbly economy. After all, the nation's output of goods and services had risen at an annual rate of only 3% in the last three months of 1976, the lowest increase since the recovery began in the spring of 1975. The growth rate was below both the 3.9% of the third quarter and the 4% plus needed to pull down unemployment, which stood at 7.8% at year's end.
Pretty terrible? No, just terribly misleading. Actually, the growth picture is bright. Although the overall figures...
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