Nah it won't be that bad but I do think it is going to be fairly bad. There are still a lot of players yet to reveal their hands.... My two biggest concerns for the US economy is the Chinese dollar issue followed closely by inflated dot coms, particularly useless social networking sites being valued at billions. Looks like a bubble to me... :)

No, too many high tech industries are producing huge amounts of new products. Medical, biotech, materials science, automation, ... so much new stuff is being created that has real value to it. Productive growth is accelerating rather than flattening or diminishing. The financial markets are just churning to adjust, trying to catch up to the newest changes.

My parents survived the great depression. They worked where and when they could get work ~ for 10 cents an hour. Masses of people were without money, food or hope. There aren't many people today who can even imagine those times ~ thus your question.

Yes it will be. The pompous government won't stop printing those dollars. Inflation is going to be out of control and we are going to loose more and more of our freedom because of the "fear". There is only one presidential contender that could help us through such a time and the main stream media has silenced him because he speaks the truth. God forbid we have a knowledgeable society to prevent such disastrous things from happening. I suggest you take that tax rebate (that the government will print out of thin air) and pay down debt or save it. It's going to get ugly. And if it doesn't happen...... is being debt free with dollars saved(even if it's only worth $0.10) really a bad thing? Want a shot at fixing the problem? Read at RonPaul2008.com

No, it's not even close. It's not even as bad as it was in the 70s-80s. It is a bit unfortunate, to say the least, that we have such a huge deficit after having had a balanced budget, but we are far from the Great Depression.

no, you need to go read about what was here in the Great Depression. people did not have jobs because there were no jobs. people did not have cars because they could not afford to buy them. In the Great Depression, food was scarce, jobs were few, and people did things based on need not wants. This is definetly not going on in our country and far from it. Right now, there are more people that have cars than probably need them.

no effing way. now, we're in a recession, and if china wants to throw support to some entity (iran, north korea, etc.) that wants to destroy us, then it will get worse, but there are safegaurds against another stock market crash. in the 20s, people bought shares with 10% margin. meaning if you had $100, you could buy $1000 worth of stock. yeah. so, when everyone started selling stocks all at once, the banks couldn't handle it. we now use 50% margin, so you have to pay half of the cost, instead of just 10%.

many econmists believe this country is at least in a recession. i tend to believe them for the fact the governments never tell the public the truth about many things. these are all governments, not just the american government. the main reason for thinking we are in a big economic mess is because the bible predicted these world conditions thousands of years ago. the bible being divinely inspired has a perfect record when it comes to world prophecy. jesus christ spoke to his disciples about the time of the end of this system of things. he spoke about a time that is fast approaching. he referred to this time as "the great tribulation." this great tribulation about to affect the entire planet will not only bring about a major world depression, it will actually provoke the collapse of all major systems as we know them now since the beginning of mankind. the prophet zephaniah wrote this in zephaniah 1:14-18; 2:2,3: "the great day of Jehovah is near. it is near, and there is a hurrying of it very much. the sound of the day of Jehovah is bitter. there a mighty man is letting out a cry. that day is a day of fury, a day of distress and anguish, a day of storm and of desolation, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick gloom, a day of horn and a alarm signal, against the fortified cities and agaisnt the high corner towers. and i will cause distress to mankind, and they will certainly walk like blind men; because it is against Jehovah that they have sinned. and their blood will actually be poured out like dust, and their bowels like the dung. neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah's fury; but by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be devoured, because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth...before the statute gives birth to anything, before the day has passed by just like the chaff, before there comes upon you people the burning anger of Jehovah, before there comes upon you the day of Jehovah's anger, seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced his own judicial decision. seek righteousness, seek meekness. probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger." it is thrilling to see how bible prophecy is being fulfilled. Jehovah's witnesses have been warning the public of the coming day of Almighty God. however, no one hardly wants to respond. give yourself the chance to find out about this message before it's too late. for more information go to www.watchtower.org

Nope. Not yet anyway, though I think there is a risk inherent when a society starts to live on credit (most by much more then they can really afford!)

no..not even close

No. I think it was worse in the inflation days.(70's) Maybe the stock market crash of 87 I think. Recession not Depression.

I would not say a depression like the Great Depression is not returning, but a depression is very near.With national debt at it's worse ever,rising unemployment,housing prices falling,and rising prices on food and other items,it will be worse than just a recession.

I think things are bad, but not as bad as an analogy to the Great Depression would imply. Contrary to some popular belief, the Great Depression was not caused by the market crash of 1929; rather, most economists agree that bank runs were far more destructive and the market simply followed the chaos in financial markets. I believe that what happened to Bear Stearns was certainly an ominous sign. It was indeed a massive bank run, as those who held securities/derivatives/contracts with Bear began to doubt Bear's ability to make good on its obligations. Bear, however, is known as a clearing house for hedge funds and whatnot. They will underwrite practically any contract that a fund manager can dream up. And they dream up some pretty wild things. I'm not affiliated with any of these firms, but there are other investment houses that have been far more prudent and will likely survive. JP Morgan will remain solvent, as will Goldman. Lehman takes risks but made some smart moves before the s*$^ hit the fan. I think we're going to be looking at a few lean years. In my humble opinion, the most consequental effect of the current condition is the devaluation of the US dollar. Of course, this has some good effects; it encourages foreign investment. But when so much of our assets, our capital, is owned overseas, can we really call them ours? I suppose this is globalization for you.

Not yet.

We aren't in a depression yet. This is just the first little rumbles of thunder before the storm. The US economy is going to collapse within the next 5 years and the shock waves will seriously affect the whole world. The debt is just out of control. The US government owes 9 trillion dollars but their total liabilities are in excess of 90 trillion dollars. The corporations and private individuals are heavily in debt too. They are going to try to get out of the trouble by borrowing more. When it all unravels the US is going to be bankrupt. Do your research! Look at documentaries such as "The Money Masters" and "Money as Debt". They explain how and why this is happening. You need to get out of debt and buy gold if you want to protect your wealth.

I'm too bummed to answer that.

No

It will be if we don't watch our money. Can you imagine having a $9 trillion credit card bill. This is what the US government is looking at now, and will go even higher. Many of us are living higher on the hog than we could afford. Young people are targeted with credit card offers with the belief that they could buy what they could not otherwise afford. The introductory rates are what attract new cardholders, who often do not read the fine print. Because we expect a lavish lifestyle, we go into debt. We have ads saying things to the effect that we will not be happy unless we have the latest technology, fashions, etc.

Get some PROZAC! My 2 cents.

No, it's not back but we're on the verge of another one. During the Great Depression, the Wall Street types were commiting suicide by jumping out the windows of their office buildings. This time around, the ones that caused the mess by robbing us are laughing at us from their mansions and airplanes and robbing us again. Gotta love progress!

No. Even though there are similarities in today's economy and the economy of the 1930s, today's economy is different because we know a lot more about how the economy functions and government is taking a much more active role. In a normal, functional economy, money needs to be circulated. There needs to be a confidence people have that the money they have will be replaced with income. Essentially, in a recession/Great Depression, spending slows, which leads to a lack of corporate confidence and a cutback of jobs, a loss of growth, a drop in prices, a slew of other nasty side effects that cause a drop in household wealth. I predict things will be a lot worse than they are now. I'm a republican in case you're wondering about my bias, but I'm optimistic and patient. I'm also voting for Obama on an entirely random side-note.