Tracking The Second Great Depression

So far, the collapse of the world economy since April 2008 has been worse than the collapse in the Great Depression. One glance at the fall world output, trade, and stock prices puts the recent "green shoots" in perspective.

The government policy response to the collapse, however, has been much more aggressive. Thus, we will soon collectively learn whether the economic historians are right that the original Great Depression was caused by "policy errors" after the collapse...or whether, as some suspect, there is simply no way to avoid catastrophe after a financial bubble the size of the one we just had.

Professors Barry Eichengreen (Berkeley) and Kevin O'Rourke (Trinity) have updated their series of charts that compare the progress of this "Depression event", as they're calling it, with the Great Depression. The originals and a more detailed write-up can be found here, at Vox. We've arranged them into a quick slideshow below.

www.businessinsider.com...
















Looking at This Recession in a Historical Context

How does the current economic and financial downturn match up to past contractions?
In an attempt to present matters in historical context, Paul Swartz of the Council on Foreign Relations recently published a chart book showing that the current economic environment has been more severe than a typical recession. He specifically highlights the following four conclusions:

seekingalpha.com...

Tracking The Second Great Depression

During the Great Depression people turned stealing and crime to avoid going hungry and is part of the legacy of the Great Depression. Many say they can't help but look at the current economy and feel the past holds lessons for the present.

The crash led us into the Great Depression. Thousands of investors lost large sums of money and many were wiped out and lost everything. This period ranked as the longest and worst period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern times. Granted our unemployment is not that high yet but we must be cautious of trickle down effects of GM and future business’s that will go bankrupt. Banks, stores, and factories were closed and left millions of Americans jobless, homeless, and penniless.

Most people came to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food. We don’t have these resources today. Our government doesnt stock food anymore so what happens if we have another Great Depression?

Some say things will be worse than the Depression, especially by looking at the charts. I must say we’d all be better off in another Depression than having hyperinflation. Raising interest rates, money rolling off the printing press, along with other factors will only lead to higher inflation.

Any ideas about how to stave off another one? Should Obama raise taxes? It seems inevitable and will this work? Or perhaps it's to late.

[edit on 17-6-2009 by wonderworld]

the chicken is dead

it's severed head just hasn't caught up to the fact yet

excuse the analogy but it's true




[edit on 17-6-2009 by warrenb]

Wow, this puts a new spin on things. By the looks of the inflation chart it looks like we might get stagflation. But I just read an article about we are going through a period of deflation.

So the only logical conclusion I can come too, is that things are way worse than what people are saying, even the ones that are being honest.

I don't know things are not looking good at all. All this spending is just trying to inflate a bubble that isn't there. The Fed needs to raise interest rates and the admin needs to cancel the rest of the stimulus bill. Currently they are making it worse and there is no way to stem the tide.

Raising taxes isn't going to solve anything because they aren't going to pay down the debt anyway, raising interest rates might solve the inflation problem, if inflation was the problem, but deflation is the problem.

We need a complete overhaul of credit and banking regulations, as in scrap it all and start from scratch, along with many other things. We are witnessing the compounding of problems and there is no one magic bullet to fix it all. That is my opinion at least.

Politicians and special interest have been allowed to be too greedy for to long and it is all collapsing. Nothing we can do. The way I see it is that there is too much credit in the system and not enough money to pay for it all.

reply to post by wonderworld


In the great depression an average poor person made $87 a month. Rent was only $5-$8 per month. Gas was 10 cents a gallon.

Rent was only 6% of ones income per month.
An average poor person now makes 1,200/month yet rent is about 700/month. Rent ranges from 30%- 60% of a person's income currently. Gas is now 2.70/gallon. If a person spends $100/month on gas that is 8% of their income on transportation expenses. That is a bigger ratio than in 1930s.

We are in for a worse depression fincailly speaking than the depression of the 1930s. Infaltion is out of control!

reply to post by dreamseeker


The % of the population paying income taxes has gone up also and the percentage of taxes vs. income has gone up too for most families since 1930's. So Most people have a lot less safety margin anymore.

reply to post by dreamseeker


True and the taxes paid in the 1930 were a lot less than what is paid now.

TPTB have everyone and everything, under there control, just where

they want us, this has all been planned, for a long time!! The Sheeple

will be led to the slaughter house, so to speak!!!!

reply to post by exile1981


Yes and also by raising interest rates our money will be worth less, than before we borrowed it, plus keeping the printing presses rolling it's causing inflation.

I sometimes have difficulty trying to figure out if they are uneducated or are doing this on purpose?