If the US economy functioned fine 10, 20, 50, and 100 years ago, when the population was ~half the size, why can’t it withstand a population decline now?

Question

If the US economy functioned fine 10, 20, 50, and 100 years ago, when the population was ~half the size, why can’t it withstand a population decline now?

In: Economics

Answer 1

I mean. It didn’t. We had crashes multiple times in the 20th century and would likely have had more if not for wars and massive influxes of spending.