The Current Recession versus the Great Depression : A side by side comparison for perspective

Townhall ^ | September 14, 2009 | J. T. Young

[SeekAndFind]

The economy's mild second quarter contraction has many proclaiming the recession over. Now is therefore a good time to survey the current recession so frequently compared to the Depression. It's natural to ask: how do these economic heavyweights measure up?

When prizefighters step into the ring – a tale of the tape – a comparison of their primary physical attributes is revealing. A comparison of the economic and fiscal attributes is equally illustrative here.

[SeekAndFind]

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR A TABULAR COMPARISON

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Duplicitous.

We don’t have hindsight yet to say how many negative quarters there are in this recession.

The unemployment rate, as counted by the 1930s method, is pushing 17%, not 10%.

That 120 banks have failed vs 4,000 is fallacious. Banks in the 30 were small and decentralized. What bank in the great depression compares to Wamu or Citi or Lehman.

Finally, how much of our labor was stolen from our children’s future to prop up false GDP and stock market numbers for public consumption, back in the 1930s. We are debting our way into a financial collapse if we keep it up, and not only with the massive government debt, but with the crazy banking that is still going on.

A completely duplicitous argument.

[PghBaldy]

Unemployment rate 1929-1930:

1929 8 0.400000E-01
1929 9 0.910000
1929 10 2.31000
1929 11 1.89000
1929 12 2.08000
1930 1 2.21000
1930 2 3.12000
1930 3 3.63000
1930 4 3.60000
1930 5 3.39000
1930 6 3.77000
1930 7 5.02000
1930 8 6.64000
1930 9 7.79000
1930 10 9.01000
1930 11 10.7800
1930 12 11.8900 http://www.nber.org/databases/macrohistory/rectdata/08/m08292a.dat

[PghBaldy]

Note also that govt spending is included in GDP...

[ntmxx]

I am not sure if there is any valid comparison...other than not learning from history.

However, everyone should see: http://www.usdebtclock.org to get a clear idea of what is going on, plus take a look at Unfunded Liabilities per citizen.

[the anti-liberal]

I’d like to see a graph comparing the lead up to the Great Depression to the present - was there a similar appearance of recovery before the downward fall?

[Reverend Wright]

anti-Lib asked: “I’d like to see a graph comparing the lead up to the Great Depression to the present - was there a similar appearance of recovery before the downward fall?”

There was a “sucker’s rally” in the stock market in the spring of 1930, but the economy never showed any sign of recovery (unlike today)

[the anti-liberal]

Thanks.

With 0 in the office, he'll manage to head off any long-term recovery. Increased taxes for health care "reform," cap-n-tax, etc. We'll see.

[org.whodat]

was there a similar appearance of recovery before the downward fall?

Yes, several bumps that never went anywhere.

[Reverend Wright]

I think it’s a mistake to put too much emphasis on Obama policy changes delaying economic recovery. In 1974 the worst most anti-business Congress ever was voted into office but the stock market recovered nicely, and so did the economy.

Eventually, spend, borrow and tax policies will take their toll but catching the economic cycle on the upswing can cover a multitude of policy mistakes.

[ReagansShinyHair]

Can someone post the tabular comparison, or is that against the rules? For some reason I can only see the left half of the table when the page loads.

[hans56]

http://www.jolietpubliclibrary.org/Digitization%20Projects/The%201930s/Depression.htm

This link scared the hell out of me. It shows how it was

[SeekAndFind]

Can someone post the tabular comparison, or is that against the rules? For some reason I can only see the left half of the table when the page loads.

Click on the PRINT link below the title to see the entire table.

[ReagansShinyHair]

Thanks!