The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met by conference call on Friday, November 28. The committee maintains a chronology of the beginning and ending dates (months and quarters) of U.S. recessions. The committee determined that a peak in economic activity occurred in the U.S. economy in December 2007. The peak marks the end of the expansion that began in November 2001 and the beginning of a recession. The expansion lasted 73 months; the previous expansion of the 1990s lasted 120 months.

Addressing critics of the Federal Reserve's response to the current economic crisis, the central bank's chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, defended the Fed's actions on Monday, calling them "exceptionally rapid and proactive" measures that had helped stabilize the economy.

Ben Bernanke, speaking in Texas, onscreen behind traders on the floor of the new York Stock Exchange.

In a speech in Austin, Tex., Mr. Bernanke warned that the economy would "probably remain weak for a time," with particular problems ahead for exports and household spending. He called for broad new regulations that would allow the Fed more flexibility in assisting institutions considered "critical" to the health of the economy.

But, in response to a question, he said that the current economic conditions -- even with the recession now official -- bear "no comparison in terms of severity" to the 1930s, a period that Mr. Bernanke has studied extensively.

Mr. Bernanke acknowledged the limitations of the Fed's conventional policy-setting tool, the interest rate, and suggested that future actions by the Fed would focus on providing liquidity to the financial system by directly buying securities and acting as a backstop for the credit markets. He also indicated that the Fed was prepared to cut rates again in December.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil plunged more than 9 percent to below $50 a barrel on Monday after OPEC deferred a decision on new supply cuts at a meeting over the weekend.

The producer group delayed a decision on output until later this month as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members called for greater compliance with existing cuts agreed to since September to help stem oil's fall from highs over $147 a barrel struck in July.

U.S. crude traded down $4.95 at $49.48 a barrel by 2:26 p.m. EST, while London Brent crude fell $5.41 to $48.08 a barrel.

"The major motivation for sellers is the discounting of the OPEC decision ... but motivation is not hard to find (as) the elements propelling prices from 2003 on have largely dissipated," said Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global, in a report.

... Deutsche's is a high-risk strategy. Though the chief executive, Josef Ackermann, has not categorically ruled out a state recapitalization, turning to public coffers could cost him his job, some analysts said.

"For Deutsche, this would be such a U-turn that there would be a problem with credibility," said Simon Adamson, a banking analyst at CreditSights in London.

For now, the bank is walking a fine line, trying to shrink its balance sheet by reducing lending while simultaneously assuring the German government and its best clients that the money spigot remains open for well-run businesses. <...>

Mr. Krause said he had given each banking division targets for reducing lending. Mainly, he said, Deutsche will crank back lending for ventures that are now out of fashion, like leveraged buyouts.

The issue is particularly delicate in Germany, where the Mittelstand, a collection of mostly family-owned companies that has proved highly resilient to the crisis, forms the backbone of employment.

Jürgen Fitschen, the top Deutsche executive for Germany, said last week that Deutsche had raised the volume of its lending to the Mittelstand by 11 percent, to 40 billion euros in the last 12 months. Deleveraging "will not happen on the back" of the Mittelstand, Mr. Fitschen said. ...

The U.S. credit-card industry may pull back well over $2 trillion of lines over the next 18 months due to risk aversion and regulatory changes, leading to sharp declines in consumer spending, prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney said.

The credit card is the second key source of consumer liquidity, the first being jobs, the Oppenheimer & Co analyst noted.

"In other words, we expect available consumer liquidity in the form of credit-card lines to decline by 45 percent."

Closing millions of accounts, cutting credit lines and raising interest rates are just some of the moves credit card issuers are using to try to inoculate themselves from a tsunami of expected consumer defaults.

The real tragedy of all this is that it doesn't have to happen. Like so many boiling frogs, we are oblivious to how simple the remedy really is.

Many civilizations throughout history have been poor - poor in food, energy, water, minerals. The US is not one of them. We have everything we need to put all of our people to work tomorrow building the greatest civilization the world has ever known.

We have the greatest supply of natural resources of any country on the planet. We have the greatest storehouse of knowledge. Even with the very real energy shortage, we could still use what is left to convert to renewable energy in record time.

And yet all we hear is how we are out of money. Does anyone even comprehend how ridiculous this is?

How did we allow ourselves to be brought to our knees by parasites who produce nothing, and a monetary/banking policy that has sucked all of the money away from the real producers?

Corruption. Plain and simple.

Most people go their entire lives without even questioning where money comes from. It's just always been. But currency is supposed to be a symbol, a tool. Not a shackle. We, as a society, have grown so accustomed to never asking questions about where the money comes from, that we don't see the most obvious thing in the world - we have become slaves to bankers who make more money off the money itself, than the goods or services the money is supposed to represent.

Money is supposed to represent real wealth - so you don't have to carry around your chickens. It should never be the sole source of wealth. Anyone who is making money solely off of money is a parasite.

What kind of system penalizes the producers of real wealth, things that have real value, and rewards the parasites? A system designed by parasites.

This is the greatest opportunity in almost a century to fix this absurd monetary system, and rebuild our country. But it won't happen because the parasites also control our political system. So the people are being taxed to death to pay for the parasites ponzi scheme.