Are we in a depression?

[butterfly77]

And some don't realize it yet.

[Sammy Pepys]

Probably not at this point....n/t

....

[butterfly77]

15. What makes you think we aren't?

Is it because you live in a certain part of the country? Some don't feel it yet but I know many who do.

[MADem]

1. Not yet, but we're headed that way, I think n/t

[AX10]

2. No, but a deep recession, possibly stagnation is possible.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Technically, no...

a depression is a severe recession, which involves several quarters of negative growth. Or something like that.

One could be coming, though.

[butterfly77]

11. I don't believe any of those numbers...

does anyone believe Snow or Elaine Cho?

[napi21]

4. I AM! Does taht count?

I've been depressed for 5 years!!!!!! Both mentaly and financially!

[Caution]

5. Nope. Not even close

Could it happen? Sure. Doubt it though.

[berni_mccoy]

6. The National Savings Rate has NOT BEEN THIS LOW SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Currently, we are at -0.5% per household. The savings rate has not been that low since the Great Depression.

[unblock]

7. we are in an economic period characterized by poor distribution of growth.

the economy is doing fantastic if you're in the energy or defense sector.
or if you're in a position to profit from outsourcing your employees.

for the rest of us, the economy sucks.

so when you average it all out, it looks fairly normal growth, ON AVERAGE.

but that masks that the growth is heavily concentrated, mostly in the hands of banana republican donors.

[skooooo]

8. no

[no_hypocrisy]

9. When unemployment is 20%-plus and there is widespread depreciation

of price on just about everything, etc., then I'll get back to you.

[benevolent dictator]

17. How can you tell what the real unemployment rate is

when they stop counting people if they weren't "actively looking for work in the past week"? All of their numbers are nothing but bullshit.

[Warpy]

10. We are getting to the point where one is inevitable

I tuned into the nightly propaganda hour (remote is missing and I was lazy) for the first time since 11/2/04 and could hardly believe my ears. First they got all chirpy about how great the economy is, then they immediately followed with a story about how people who got into the housing market via ARMs are falling behind in their mortgage payments now that interest rates are climbing and are facing foreclosure.

WHAT??

Doesn't an increase in home foreclosures signal a BAD economy?

The evening propaganda hour hasn't changed, I see. I can't imagine Mr. and Mrs. Sixpack's cognitive dissonance after watching an hour or so of that kind of stuff every night of the week.

[raccoon]

12. One thing you can safely bet, no corporate media reporter,

pundit or government official would EVER, EVER use the "D" word.

Ted Kennedy said in a speech some time ago that most Americans had been in a "slow-motion Depression" for years. I think that "slow motion Depression" has been going on since then, for most people.

[Greyhound]

13. 12% unemployment, 8% inflation, $3.5 trillion annual deficits,

if we're not, we're well on our way. Of course, they will not call it a depression, but it will hurt just as badly.

[area51]

14. I believe we are.

Unemployment is a lot higher than this nazi administration is saying. Try to find a job & you'll see how bad this economy is.

Here's an interesting interview (pdf) w/John Williams on the economy.

[Odin2005]

16. Not yet, but we will be in one when...

...the housing market starts giving way and gas is $5/gallon

[Eurobabe]

18. The housing market HAS gone to shit

I work in the industry for a builder, in what was a hot market --haven't sold diddly in almost 3 months. It's serious folks.

[On the Road]

19. No, We're Not in a Depression

We're in a time where jobs for unskilled workers are widely available but poorly paid, and earnings are being eroded by inflation.

It's true that full U6 unemployment is higher than the more limited U3 unemployment, but that's always true. You have to compare apples with apples. Even in the boom years of the 50s and 60s, not everyone was able to find a job. In the late 70s and early 80s, even the most undesirable jobs were hard to come by.