measuring the business cycle(1)

how the economic system was plagued with the uncertainties of the business cycle throughout our history as a nation, although fortunately rarely with as sustained and costly a slump as the post-1929 Great Depression.With surprisingly few variations,the same pattern of cyclical fluctuations was repeated until World War II in England,Germany,and most other foreign nations.But it is a strange fact that the united states,supposedly one of the youngest and most vigorous of nations,always tended to have greater average amounts of unemployment,and to have greater variation in unemployment than most other countries.Not only was this true in 1933,when our percentage of unemployment rivaled even that of Germany-with 1 in every 4 out of work completely!-but relatively higher American levels of unemployment appear to have been the case for almost as far back as we have any records or indications.In the last 30 years we have generally avoided deep unemployment,but still our still our rates look bad in comparison with those abroad.