I agree with Cliff from a Macro economic standpoint. (I'm and economist by training plus all those nights in the Holiday Inn express.
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My point in posting this thread had more to do with looking at things from personal perspectives. 94 out of 100 of us statistically have jobs today. How you say things has a big impact on the emotional reception. Sounds different than Unemployment went up by 12% to 6% this week. If things go as predicted this might bottom out in the 90-92 range before there is much improvement. We are probably headed into "the great depression of this century". But what does that mean in todays context as opposed to the 1930's? Unless we see 25-30% unemployment it's hardly the same. Not good news for many but not sleeping on the street with starving children. I see the current process as a massive redistribution of wealth with the homeowners and stockowners taking huge hits. Effective current income will actually go up for those with jobs due to recessionary pressure on all forms of prices and historic low interest rates. It's almost as if we are nationalizing wealth in the form of deficit spending to cover the sins of the past 10 years in the financial, housing and auto markets. If the rest of the mature industrialized world wasn't doing the same thing the value of the dollar would plummet. Since the world is now intertwined more economically than at any time in the past, we are in new territory.... the how you feel territory. Unwinding and deleveraging applies to more than just the financial institutions.