Here is a depressing thought to help you start the weekend.

Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek notes that the economy has had its lowest growth rate in the postwar period over the last 10 years. It grew at a pathetic 1.9% annual rate.

His take on how to look at this — “I think we need to wrap our minds around the fact that we’re not having a boom followed by a bust…we’re having a bad decade followed by a slow digging-out process.”

Have an extra cocktail this evening and try not to think about it.