Posted on 08/18/2011 8:32:48 AM PDT by CincyRichieRich
With the United States and European economies having slowed markedly according to the latest data, and with global growth continuing to disappoint, a reasonable question increasingly arises: Are we in another Great Depression?
The easy answer is "no" - the main features of the Great Depression have not yet manifested themselves and still seem unlikely. But it is increasingly likely that we will find ourselves in the midst of something nearly as traumatic, a long slump of the kind seen with some regularity in the 19th century, particularly if presidential election-year politics continue to head in a dangerous direction.
The Great Depression had three main characteristics, seen in the United States and most other countries that were severely affected. None of these have been part of our collective experience since 2007.
First, output dropped sharply after 1929, by over 25 percent in real terms in the United States (using the Bureau of Economic Analysis data, from its Web site, for real gross domestic product, using chained 1937 dollars). In contrast, the United States had a relatively small decline in G.D.P. after the latest boom peaked. According to the bureau's most recent online data, G.D.P. peaked in the second quarter of 2008 at $14.4155 trillion and bottomed out in the second quarter of 2009 at $13.8541 trillion, a decline of about 4 percent.
Second, unemployment rose above 20 percent in the United States during the 1930s and stayed there. In the latest downturn, we experienced record job losses for the postwar United States, with around eight million jobs lost. But unemployment only briefly touched 10 percent (in the fourth quarter of 2009; see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site).
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
“those who’ve stopped looking for jobs.”
Well, if they aren’t looking, they should not be counted. We don’t count dead people either. :)
As much as I enjoy FR, most of us are of a like mind here. I enjoy seeing non conservative outlets begin to criticize their messiah.
If we don’t get our act together fast it will be worse, and we will be lucky to live thru it.
How do you write any story on economics/finances with government statistics that total fabrications? Simply tell me how....
Those figures do not include the self employed who do not qualify for unemployment benefits.
To turn our children into slaves...
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