In 1984 President Ronald Reagan declared "morning in America" in a campaign ad in his race against Walter Mondale. Three decades later, is it finally afternoon? Has the American economy finally left behind the cloudy haze of recessional gloom?

Around 6 million more men and women are back at work since the peak of the recession in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Home ownership is still down, with around 65 percent of Americans owning homes in 2014—a number that's expected to decline slightly in 2015. Millennials, however, are supposed to drive two-thirds of household formations over the next five years.

And while the U.S. marriage rate hit a 93-year low in 2014, the number of weddings is up four percent since 2009 and is expect to hit just over 2.2 million in 2015.

Six years after the Great Recession, is the U.S. economy finally enjoying a sort of "afternoon in the Sun?" For answers, we turn to Edward Luce, a U.S. columnist for the Financial Times.