In 1997, the United States economy basked in a 3.7 percent GDP growth rate, mild inflation, a historically low unemployment rate, low interest rates and a seemingly unstoppable stock market. The average operating earnings of the companies making up our Standard & Poor's 500 stock index (the S&P 500) rose 10 percent over 1996 earnings. What a year! Such economic trends have caused comparisons to the Goldilocks fairy tale. Like the porridge in the Goldilocks story, the U.S. economy has been "not too hot and not too cold". That is, there have not been excesses in consumer demand or inflationary pressures, but corporate profits have continued to show good year over year growth. Despite some raggedness in the economy during the last quarter of 1997, The Year of the Ox in the zodiac calendar was a long way from being clumsy.
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