Hey Republicans! Newt for President?

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The horrible depression that was being predicted didn't happen

I disagree. It depends on who you ask. Many economists are referring to our current economic standing as a depression, others a double-dip recession. It's rhetoric at this point and opinions differ according what yardstick we use to measure our financial crisis.

While unemployment isn't as bad now as it was in the 30's, our debt situation is a thousand times worse. This isn't the only country suffering, so the term "depression" applied to the current world economy wouldn't be incorrect. Except in Canada and China, but fuck them.

It isn't going to be OK if we don't make major changes. This isn't self-correcting. We are self-destructing.

While I'm not homeless and I can pay my bills, many people are having a really hard time. It isn't a horrible recession at my house, but I have friends suffering. If you asked them, they would have a completely different view than yours.

There will always be individuals that are suffering. This in and of itself does not define a recession. A recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. This clearly does not describe the current economic environment. GDP is forecasted to be in the 3% to 3.5% range for 2011. The threat of a double-dip recession was something that was thought to possibly be in the cards for the future. Recent economic data has pushed the needle more towards recovery than a double dip recession. Employment numbers have been showing modest improvement as well as productivity numbers, corporate earnings and consumer confidence. The accomodative monetary policy, accompanied by aggressive fiscal policy, has definitely helped jump start the economy and staved off a financial collapse. You are correct in your statement that the price for recovery has been a dramatic increase in the level of government debt. However, because interest rates are very low, the debt service (the interest owed on the debt) is not out of line with historical figures. Essentially, we have borrowed from tomorrow to finance today. Unfortunately, there was little choice. If the government did not act decisively and aggressively the outcome would most likely have been much worse. If the ATM machine was no longer able to spit out $20 bills (because large numbers of banks were insolvent), then your friends and the american people would really understand what the goverment actions helped to prevent. You are correct in your concern as to what the future might bring. Loose monetary policy will most likely lead to another bubble in some asset class (e.g. real estate in an emerging market), inflation, higher interest rates and the prospect of higher taxes and austerity measures to deal with an increasing debt burden. The goverment's actions can best be described as taking the best of the bad choices offered.

How this financial crisis ends, will not be known for years to come and the causes will be argued for even longer. The severity of the worldwide economic problem dictates that the resoulution is not within the control of one man or country. The coordinated efforts of all the major countries and leaders is without precedent in history. The response, at this point, can only be considered a success given how close the world was to a total financial collapse. Stay tuned............