The picture is a mixed one. The current recovery has been under way since June 2009--nearly seven and a half years. It will soon be the third longest of the 20 recoveries since the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913. GDP, or output, is now 11 percent higher than its pre-crisis peak. Employment is now 6.5 million higher than its pre-crisis peak.
Like a multiple reserve currency system, it may reduce the aggregate incentives of countries that supply the consistent currencies of the SDR to run deficits. In addition, there appears to be no technical reason why the use of SDRs could not be expanded. 5  L.H.