This new-found reputation for stability may surprise some people, because there is still a tendency to read so much into the small month-by-month or quarter-by-quarter variations in economic statistics. But if we take a longer sweep, we can see how many of the economic problems that used to concern us have now been eliminated, or are at least under some reasonable sort of control.
The headlines are no longer full of stories about the current account deficit or the level of foreign debt. The budget deficit is small. High inflation and its inevitable twin, high interest rates, no longer fill the papers. This does not mean, of course, that we have solved all our economic problems, but we have clearly narrowed them down.