U.S. economy looking good for 2013 and beyond

Set aside for a moment credit or blame, Democrats and Republicans, Obama vs. Romney, and simply enjoy this piece of news: The U.S. is projected to enjoy the strongest economy in the world over the next four years.

According to the International Monetary Fund, which keeps track of these things in great detail, U.S. growth is forecast to average 3 percent, much stronger, in global economic terms, than that of Germany or France (1.2 percent) or even Canada (2.3 percent). The fast-growing economies of China, India, Russia and Brazil will lag behind.

As Fareed Zakaria reported in his most recent column for The Washington Post, the evidence suggests that the United States has come out of the financial crisis of 2008 in better shape than its peers. Zakaria credits President Obama and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke – not exactly two of the most popular guys in America – but nonetheless the gloom of 2008-10 is long gone and the remaining jitters of 2011-12 may soon be over.

One study shows that the American financial sector has cut its overall debt to 2000 levels, when compared to GDP, and U.S. households have chopped their debts by 15 percentage points, relative to disposable income.

Experts on the history of financial crises make the case that the U.S. recovery of the past four years greatly outpaced most recoveries of similar scope going back more than a century.

Unemployment remains high but many economists are projecting up to 12 million new jobs over the next four years, regardless of who is president and what economic policies are in place. And the housing market appears to have finally bounced back.

Corporations have also bounced back, Zakaria noted. Corporate profits are at an all-time high as a percentage of GDP, and companies have $1.7 trillion in cash on their balance sheets.

U.S. exports, which have climbed 45 percent in the past four years, are at their highest level ever as a percentage of GDP.

In other words, either Obama will win re-election and be hailed for getting things right the second time around, or Romney will capture the White House and fly high on the wings of a recovery.