Hello.... McFly....
The economy is as bad as I have ever seen it.
First, its good to see you post! I hadn't seen a post from you in ages.
As for the economy - I am of the school that it isn't as bad as portrayed, but that may be a local thing. In these parts, unemployment is around 4%, houses are being built at record levels, and the area's new car sales have soundly beaten the figures from last year. People are real busy around here.
In contrast, I remember living in Cleveland, Ohio in the late '70's when local unemployment was around 14%, interest rates were very high and the big local employers, Ford, Republic (LTV) Steel, and the like weren't doing very well. I beleive that Chrysler got its bail-out in that era. I don't think we've stooped to that level - and I hope we don't, but if we don't get the Iraq issue behind us, we could.
I hope you're not comparing today's economy with that of the mid-late 90's - that was an overheated economy by any measurement. I would compare the late '90's to the roaring '20's, but on a lessor scale. To Bush's credit, he hasn't resorted to FDR-like remedies to the slowdown.
Keep in touch with FR - your posts are valued as far as I'm concerned.