Cartoonists again have represented the new year of 2022 as a baby in diapers. More appropriately, 2022 peeks in cautiously, wearing a mask, standing in a circle with a 12-foot diameter, and a certificate of vaccination in hand.
The old year, 2021, is seen wheezing, bedraggled and heading toward eternal rest in an overcrowded hospital emergency room.
We know the tragedy and turmoil of the COVID pandemic. Unemployment and simultaneous staffing shortages, plus supply chain disruptions and selective inflation, get the headlines.
What we may not appreciate is the actual performance of the economy during nearly two full years of COVID.
Clearly, COVID hit the economy in both the U.S. and Indiana in the first half of 2020. However, real gross domestic product (GDP) — the market value of goods and services,…
