When pundits discuss the overall performance of the USeconomy, the “fear of recession” seems to always be hovering in thebackground. This is especially trueduring any negative economic news cycle. In reality, as the chart below from RitholtzWealth Management illustrates, the US economy has been remarkably consistentover the last 15+ years. Since the summerof 2009, we’ve spent a total of 1% of time in a recession.

Looking back historically, you can see how much moretumultuous the economy was in the first half of the 20thcentury. This is not to say that certainsegments of the economy have not suffered periods of recession, and thoseperiods can be painful. But overall, theUS economy is much more diverse and resilient than it has ever beenhistorically. The checks and balances ofmonetary and fiscal policy implemented over time have helped calm thewaters. One of the downfalls of ourrecent prolonged economic prosperity is that when relatively small blips ofstock market performance occur, investors tend to overreact as they are not as hardenedas they once were during more difficult economic cycles. Not overreacting to good or bad times is akey to long-term investment performance. We are here to help navigate you through when the water becomes choppy.
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