Halfway through the 7 lean years.

Remember Joseph's interpretation of the Pharaoh's dream of seven fat cows and seven skinny cows? Well, for those of you far removed from Sunday School, let me remind you that he said the Pharaoh's dream foretold of seven fat years and seven lean years. Thanks to Joseph's economic prognostication, the Pharaoh was able to put aside enough grain to feed his people during the seven years of drought.

Our seven years started about 2008, possibly a bit earlier. If our long, tough slog out of the economic morass of the Great Recession is anything like biblical times, then we've got approximately three years left of slower growth. That means, come 2015, we should be approaching some semblance of economic normality.

Coincidentally, other people anticipate a similarly slow slog uphill out of the economic swamp lands. The Detroit Free Press has a good article in which they quote Lacey Plache, senior economist for Edmunds.com Plache's takeaway from all the economic news? In 2015, we'll see auto sales hit 16 million. That puts us halfway through the seven lean years.

Or as I like to call them, Seven Learning Years.