Recessed, not depressed
Economic data seems to have caught up with the reality many people have been struggling with for some time: The U.S. is in a recession. Things are tough and may get tougher, but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dismisses comparisons with the Great Depression of the 1930s. Bernanke is an expert on the Depression, first signaled by the stock market crash in 1929, and he says there’s no parallel between what Americans are going through now and what they experienced more than 70 years ago. Then, unemployment was 25 percent and real gross domestic product fell by a third. One in three banks failed, and the stock market lost about 90 percent of its value. “During the 1930s, there was a worldwide depression that lasted for about 12 years and was only ended by a world war,” Bernanke says. Small consolation to the worker out of a job, but it rings true when you consider sales figures from Black Friday and the millions spent on entertainment and the latest electronic gizmos.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment