The U.S. economy keeps on growing, and in the third quarter it positively boomed. This is good news by any measure, though it’s striking how few economists think it can keep going. Let’s hope they keep being wrong.

Gross domestic product grew 4.9% after inflation in the third quarter on an annual basis. The doughty American consumer led the way, with personal consumption growing 4% and contributing about 2.7 percentage points to overall growth.