Steinbeck’s grapes lack wrath this time around (Where's the US's Great Depression?)

The Times ^ | 5/6/08 | Gerard Baker

[Obadiah]

Whatever happened to the Great Depression? Not the real one from 70 years ago, the lost decade of unimagined misery and Steinbeckian angst, the worst period in the history of modern capitalism. I mean the replay we were promised this year. The one we were told was the inevitable counterpart to the greatest financial crisis since a couple of medieval Italians first sat down on a Florentine bench and invented the word “bank”.

I don’t know about you but I feel a bit cheated. There we all were, led to believe by so many commentators that the sub-prime crisis was going to force the United States into a new era of dust bowls and breadlines, a slump that would call into question the very functioning of the capitalist system in the world’s largest economy. Carried away on the surging wave of their own economically dubious verbosity, the pundits even speculated that this unavoidable calamity might presage some 1930s-style global political cataclysm to match.

[Obadiah]

What happened to the great depression the Democrats and the MSM so desperately wanted and fought for?

[Clemenza]

To be fair for once in my life, this works both ways. I'm still waiting for those crowds of unemployed white Americans who have been "displaced" by illegals.

Yep, we are all waiting on breadlines here in New Jersey, thanks to Free Trade and the Bush economy! ;-)

[2banana]

Hang on - we are about to do the opposite and have hyper-inflation...

[RightWhale]

This is the Great Depression. It never ended. All the mechanisms are still in place and operating, stronger than ever except those that were declared unconstitutional by the USSC along the way. Nothing has changed so just look around and there it is.

[investigateworld]

Speak for yourself, I'm considering tying a mattress to the roof of my ride and heading to California to pick peaches ;^)

[BallyBill]

The Great Depression of ‘04 was kind of boring. In fact I would never have known we were in a Depression unless the DNC kept reminding us.

[dighton]

What happened to the great depression the Democrats and the MSM so desperately wanted and fought for?

No soup kitchens for you!

[Lou L]

This is the Great Depression. It never ended. All the mechanisms are still in place and operating, stronger than ever except those that were declared unconstitutional by the USSC along the way. Nothing has changed so just look around and there it is.

According to the MSM, the perennial Great Depression we see temporarily ends immediately upon the inauguration of a Democrat President. As soon as a Republican replaces that Democrat, the Depression starts again.

[nickcarraway]

Steinbeckian angst? Angst? Has this writer ever read anything by John Steinback?

[nickcarraway]

Well, to be fair, I remember an article in the WSJ from over a year ago, about an area in Alabama or Georgia. There was a large illegal immigrant bust. The factories in that area where hurting for workers afterwards. It ended up that welfare roles shrunk enormously. People who were on the welfare roles took those jobs. If I recall correctly, it was necessarily mostly white workers, but it made a tremendous impact.