The Race to Depression

With the economy racing downward (or so it would appear), the press is playing the depression game. Every media outlet it desperately hoping to be the first to declare the economic situation a second Great Depression but none are brave enough to ventue into that territory unilaterally. Instead, they ask questions like "A New Great Depression?," "What would a depression look like?," and "The Dawn of a New Depression?"

Which network will do it? Which major network will bite the bullet and open the floodgates? My money goes on NBC, especially with the liberal MSNBC out there. They seem to be most likely to declare this the second depression even though there are no factors that could possibly quantify it as such. Unemployment in the Great Depression was at 25% in 1933. Today it is high, at 7.2% Is that the factor? Does the spiraling stock market determine the depression? Between October 29, 1929 and July of 1932, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 89% of its value. To date, the Dow has lost nearly 45% from its high in October of 2007. Still a long way to go to 90%.

I can't say we're not facing some very difficult times ahead. But there's no way to say we're in the next Great Depression until history has had a chance to look back and make that determination. The rush to declare it as such only further fuels the paranoia and fears of the people who rely on the news networks for actual news. Perhaps we are heading into the next Great Depression. But I won't be relying on the news to tell me that. I will rely upon the facts and make the determination myself...