The New York Times website recently carried an amazing interactive graph showing the last 40 years of economic indicators from the OECD countries. It’s fascinating reading…. er, watching. The key point they’re trying to make is that industrial production usually picks up after a recovery begins, whereas indicators like the stock market and consumer confidence normally pick up before a recovery becomes obvious.
And, if that trend has been well established over 40 years, it’s good news for us right now. The indicators that normally precede the economic data are all turning up in a big way.
But check out the way in which this graph illustrates this. It’s available here.