While there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re presently facing a severe financial crisis, I’ve had a hard time reconciling Obama’s claim that we’re in the midst of the, “…worst financial crisis since the Great Depression,” to the realities I see all around me. Seems to me to be overstatement rather than a statement of fact. And I’m not the only one.
Today the SF Chronicle has an article titled THE ECONOMY IN TURMOIL / The Great Depression – how close are we? that essentially says the same thing I’ve been thinking.
Despite screaming headlines about financial chaos, “for the average person, it hasn’t had an impact,” said Gregg Easterbrook, a Brookings Institution fellow in government and economic studies. “Goods and services are plentiful; the price of gas is falling; ATMs are working. People are not losing jobs left and right.”
Is it bad? Yes. But, for now and for a variety of reasons, it does not appear to be as bad as Obama is saying it is. In fact, I seem to remember it being much worse during the recession of the 70’s. No gas lines, no odd and even days, no… big “D” depression.
No reason to make this bigger than it is.