Drastically smaller? If you're talking about the US economy, GDP is $5 trillion larger than in 2001. That's a 50% increase.

[0] http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=ny_gdp_mk...

True, I read "current" as "constant."

Even using constant dollars, though, our economy is 18% larger between then and now. That's not "drastically" smaller. [0]

[0]http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=real+us+gdp+2001+to+201...

How much gas and wheat do you consume regularly as a proportion of your income? What about gold?