Recession of Depression?
There's all sorts of talk about this now. The latest: a British newspaper, The Independent, referred to America's "Depression." As always, the press picks up the story and creates a sensation.
There's no Depression now. But business is slowing down. Might there be a Depression in the future? It's possible. Probably the most likely scenario would be the sort of "soft" depression in the economy that Japan experienced after their stock market crashed in the late 80's. It lasted for almost 20 years. Some say it's still going on. Most Americans are unaware it even happened.
A soft depression here would entail pretty much no economic growth, but wouldn't mean starvation and social chaos. The only concern I would have, and it's a big one, is this: the Japanese were and are savers. They had savings and very little debt. It's helped them to weather slow economic times. Americans are in debt. We don't save anymore. What will happen if the economy slows to a crawl and people lose their jobs?
There's no Depression now. But business is slowing down. Might there be a Depression in the future? It's possible. Probably the most likely scenario would be the sort of "soft" depression in the economy that Japan experienced after their stock market crashed in the late 80's. It lasted for almost 20 years. Some say it's still going on. Most Americans are unaware it even happened.
A soft depression here would entail pretty much no economic growth, but wouldn't mean starvation and social chaos. The only concern I would have, and it's a big one, is this: the Japanese were and are savers. They had savings and very little debt. It's helped them to weather slow economic times. Americans are in debt. We don't save anymore. What will happen if the economy slows to a crawl and people lose their jobs?
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