Roundtable: Top Stories of 2002

Dec. 29 -- In a year of corporate and church scandals, terrorism fears, a showdown with Iraq and a sluggish economy, what was the biggest story of the year?

Comedian Al Franken, joining the roundtable this week on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, said his choice for the story of 2002 was homeland security.

"No terrorist attacks this year, and I don't know why," he said. "I hope it's because we're brilliant but something tells me it isn't. … I get the idea that this administration is more intent on using homeland security as a political issue than giving the resources and the will toward getting it done."

ABCNEWS' George Will disagreed.

"You can't improve on zero and that's what you have to judge the president on and his administration," Will said. "Nothing happened this year. That's amazing considering that we are vulnerable everywhere, everyday and our enemies can bide their time and pick their targets."

The Economy

Turning to the economy, Will said Americans didn't feel as bad as the news they were hearing.

"Growth this year is slightly under 3 percent, which means slightly below the postwar average," Will said. "Unemployment is at 6 percent, slight above the post war average. Inflation, which used to be the scourge, is at 1.5 percent … way below the post war average. That means interest rates are way down, which means consumer debt costs much less, which means refinancing mortgages is a big deal.

"The economy grows merrily along," Will added. "Seventy percent of it is consumer spending, it always has been. Twenty percent is government spending, it's going up. The 10 percent that's the problem is business spending. But it's only 10 percent."

ABCNEWS' Michel Martin said the view isn't so rosy for the nation's poor.

"Maybe it's the fact that people most profoundly affected by the economic slow down are the people who are invisible to many of us," she said. "The number of poor increased last year by 1.3 million. The median household income dropped by 2.2 percent last year. While I agree with you the economy has been remarkably resilient, the fact of the matter is that there are a number of people who are profoundly suffering."