Shit. Bush acknowledged we are in a recession. Whare then are we REALLY?

[DuaneBidoux]

[Cleita]

1. Helen Thomas said we are in a depression. She lived through the

Great Depression and ought to know what it feels like.

[louis-t]

2. We are one inauguration away from Depression.

Just ask any repug whose fault this is.

[meisje]

3. Financial Katrina

[LiberalEsto]

4. Deep, deep doo-doo.

Dubya doo-doo.

[windbreeze]

5. looks like a depression to me...

not that I know a whole lot...when you have 533,000 people lose their jobs in one month 200,000+ in October...400,000+ in September...figure per figure...rate of unemployment vs population..seems to be just about what it was in 1930...and I don't believe the end is even in sight, let alone here already, I believe things are gonna get real bad for all of us...wb

[elfin]

6. "Deep Recession" AKA "Depression". which

will be formally defined sometime during 2009 and blamed on Administration and Congressional Democrats despite being caused by Repugs.

[Adsos Letter]

7. As my cardiologist observed the other day....

"it appears that we may be circling the drain."

[ozone_man]

8. Deflationary recession soon to be depression?

My guess. If gas is headed toward $1/gallon, that clearly indicates deflation. All prices are falling. Depression is separated by a matter of degrees from a recession.

Maybe in a year the National Bureau of Economic Research will say that we have been in a depression since 4th quarter 2008.

[DuaneBidoux]

9. Then there is only one choice and even I as a progressive find it very bad.

Basically the government is going to have to start programs for work everywhere and literally print our way out of this. Of course, we would likely then have 4, 5, hell maybe even 7 years of a hot economy culminating in a period where we buy our bread like the Germans, hauling paper money in wheel barrows. But historically it has been much easier for a government to stop inflation than to stop deflation. Deflation is deadly and I think we are close. Once it starts there is not a theory known to economic science that can get you out. In the 1980s Japan got into this and they are now even still bearing the wounds of that period.

[ozone_man]

10. That transfers the debt problem onto the next generation.

The debt is the source of the problem and has to be purged, and there is no easy fix for that. We can't reinflate the bubble economy, because it was unsustainable.

I think the Fed may cut rates to 0.5%, but then they are done. They will resort to other means like buying treasury bonds apparently. And the Treasury is buying stocks already with tax payer money borrowed from the next generation.

The bottom line is that we have to learn to live within our means. We were all taught over the last 15 years to live on margin as teh Clinton stock market bubble was forming, overextending ourselves in debt during the Bush years, using our houses as piggy banks to draw equity from, even flipping houses to turn a profit toward the end. All of that bubble thinking has to change. No more easy credit I'm afraid, since there are no more good risks.

Rather than bail out these credit card banks, and investment banks, I'd let them fail and put a limit on credit card debt, something that Biden has consistently voted against. These banks are blood suckers. Let them die first.