Reply #3: Higher interest rates

[Alcibiades]

were already inevitable, but now I expect they will go up more quickly, as the Fed over steers.

Our whole economy has been based on consumer borrowing since the 1990's. tight credit and higher prices will finally cause a slowdown in consumer spending. I think that the shift to the service economy will make joblessness far worse this time around, as many of the people who now hold jobs don't actually produce anything people want.

Buy gold, get a government job, and buy your house now (assuming you don't live in one of the overpriced metros). For most people, the Great Depression is a dim ancestral memory. I suspect they will be rudely awakened.