Neil Irwin: “The economy keeps underperforming. Yes, new G.D.P. data last week were better than expected. But the United States is still producing around $800 billion a year less in goods and services than it would if the economy were at full health, and as a result millions of people aren’t working who would be if conditions were better.

• “Housing is the biggest and least surprising, accounting for $239 billion in missing economic output. We examined this sector’s continued underperformance earlier in the year, but the short version is this: Even years after the housing bust, the United States is building far fewer houses than would be expected given demographic trends. It may be that a broader shift is underway in the desire and ability of young adults to get homes of their own. Regardless, it is holding back construction and home sales activity.
• State and local governments spent the years after the crisis cutting employees and trimming costs. The result: a $189 billion gap between what they were actually spending this spring versus what would be expected based on their historical share of the economy.
• Durable goods consumption is $178 billion lower than it would be in our model of a fully healthy economy. This is most likely related to the same factors holding back housing. People aren’t buying cars, furniture and other big-ticket items as past patterns would suggest, perhaps related to the overhang of debt from the boom years.
• Business equipment investment has been another weak spot, with corporate America spending $120 billion less than the healthy economy model would suggest. It suggests a continued lack of faith among executives about future demand.
• Federal government spending is $118 billion below the level one would expect given longer-term trends. The spending cuts that were part of deals to trim expenditures emanating from the 2011 debt ceiling deal, combined with the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mean that federal spending was 6.8 percent of potential G.D.P., down from 7.4 percent of actual G.D.P. from 1993 to 2013.”