The 1990s Economy: From Recession to Internet Boom

The 1990s began with a recession that helped make the economy central to the 1992 presidential election. What followed was a long expansion, falling unemployment, and eventually federal budget surpluses. We weigh NAFTA against the rise of the internet as the decade’s most consequential economic change. Along the way, we look at what the dot-com boom built, even after its most famous companies disappeared.

In this episode, we talk about:

* How the early recession shaped the 1992 election

* Why falling unemployment challenged economists’ expectations

* NAFTA, budget surpluses, and the internet as contenders for the decade’s defining change

* What survived the dot-com boom after companies like Pets.com did not

* How new technology changed everyday life and the way people thought about investing

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This Week’s Drinks 🍻

Matt went with his trusty Centennial IPA: tasty, reasonably priced, and, by his account, an economist’s dream. Jadrian’s first choice was a cider that had been placed a little too close to the ice maker. A quick trip back upstairs led to a Sam Adams Cold Snap substitute. The replacement was much easier to drink; the plan for the cider was to let it thaw and mix it back together.

Name That Stat 📊

We both stayed on theme for this week’s stat, but we went in two wildly different directions. Matt chipped in the market capitalization for one of the dot-com boom’s most famous companies. Jadrian stuck with the 90s, but went in a completely different direction by highlighting recent survey results showing that Millennials and Gen Z picked the 1990s as the most fashionable decade.