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Eichengreen and O'Rourke: A Tale of Two Depressions

Published in June 24th, 2009   Posted by Cassander in Debtwatch

Economic historians Barry Eichengreen and Kevin H. O'Rourke are using empirical data to compare this downturn to the Great Depression. I'll be referring to and adding to their comparison in the next Debtwatch (which will be published late next week, before the RBA's July meeting), but the research is so good that it deserves to be highlighted now.

Their conclusion is compelling:

To summarise: the world is currently undergoing an economic shock every bit as big as the Great Depression shock of 1929-30. Looking just at the US leads one to overlook how alarming the current situation is even in comparison with 1929-30.

Click here to see the full post;  below I simply link to some of the figures.



As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Thu Jun 25th, 2009 at 10:07:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Krugman had a post on this the other day.  It's just as bad as the Depression so far.  It's just that in the US it isn't seen that way.  The Great Depression slammed America, but this one is being felt elsewhere, and it looks like America is going to get off pretty easy.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Fri Jun 26th, 2009 at 02:10:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The pain in the U.S. is not distributed evenly across the nation or across the classes. In some parts of the U.S., this recession is just as bad, if not worse, than the Great Depression.
by Magnifico on Fri Jun 26th, 2009 at 02:50:23 AM EST
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California was the refuge for many during the '30s.  It is now one of the hardest hit. The electorate in CA has done much of this to themselves, by approving Prop 13, The Gann Ammendment, and other constitutional restrictions on taxation, along with the super-majority requirements in the legislature for tax increases.  I don't know if many have yet figured this out.  If they do, step 1 would be to intitiate a recall proceeding against Arnie.  Then he might change his tune.  Step 2 would be to prepare an intitative petition that undoes most of the restrictions on taxation and bond issues.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Jun 26th, 2009 at 01:20:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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