Can the private sector save us?

A GREAT mystery of our time - one that should frame the campaign debate - is why the economic recovery has been so sluggish. Consider this comparison. After the brutal recession of the early 1980s (peak unemployment: 10.8 per cent), it took only 11 months for employment to regain its pre-recession level. By contrast, it required 51 months after the Great Recession for employment to reach its pre-recession numbers. Either economic policy let us down or the economy has become less robust. Maybe both.

We expected better. Sure, economic policy probably prevented a second Great Depression, and this was no mean feat. Remember, unemployment was 25 per cent in 19…