O for 0

clipped from www.edmontonjournal.com The decade with no name finally has one: The Big Zero. That's what New York Times columnist Paul Krugman dubs the past 10 years, and in my books, his label is an apt one. For Americans, at least, the decade was a giant doughnut. As in: zero job growth, zero stock market gains, zero income growth, and zero upside for homeowners. But on a point-to-point basis, the U.S. economy has gone nowhere since Y2K dawned. The tech boom cratered, the housing bubble was built on fake money, and the grossly overhyped dot.comera largely lost its fizz (OK, so now we Tweet and spill our lives on Facebook -- how revolutionary). Corporate heavies like Enron and WorldCom went kablooey, two of Detroit's Big Three carmakers got flattened, and big banks like Lehman Brothers collapsed under the weight of their own crappy assets. Quite simply, the U.S. has lost its mojo. It's not just broke. It's bankrupt of ideas.

And a Happy New Year to you too.