rather than solving this political problem, economic policy retreated from full employment and assisted in the evisceration of unions. That lowered inflation, but it came at the high cost of two decades of wage stagnation and a rupturing of the link between wage and productivity growth.

the great moderation has been driven by asset price inflation and financial innovation, which have financed consumer spending.

A better way to look at the "the Great Moderation" is that it was accomplished through the systematic financial and economic debasement of the American family (those at the top of American corporations and on Wall Street gained incredible wealth by participating in this process). All we have left now are low wages, massive debt, and a crappy "service economy."