heading that way, and hmmm let's see, let's ask dubya why we're heading to the crapper.

I don't give a "rats behind" about America however, recent media release would lead me top believe that they could be headed in that direction. I think they spend way too much money on useless stuff especially the military andthe war in Iraq which could have been better spent elsewhere...

I think if we are not in a Depression now, we will be soon. If those that figure unemployment stats would include those whos unemployment has run out that do not have jobs, it would be frightening. I am one of them. I know what the job market is. And the way the value of the dollar is dropping worldwide is even more so. I vaguely remember a tv show (like the twilight zone) where a woman went into a store with a paper bag of money for a carton of milk. They dumped the cash on the floor and took the bag. That thought hovers closer and closer.

naaaa I think abunch of people who aren't making it are looking for something to blame besides themselves. i started my own business a year ago and it's going good. i believe people who work hard and apply themselves can still get ahead

I don't think it's a depression...not yet, anyway. But most definately a recession. But don't ask Dubya that...he keeps claiming everything's just fine...at least, not as bad as it really is. Will someone please tell him that the President shouldn't be wearing blinders? I'm counting down the days until he's out!!

At the least we're in a recession and heading into a depression if we're not already there. Aside from unemployment, another statistic which is rarely talked about, however, very important is the internal distribution gap between the rich and the poor. The US internal distribution gap is the largest it has been in years. That means, our middle class is shrinking and we're becoming a country of haves and have nots, and that is very dangerous. You want a growing middle class, not a shrinking one.

Last week in Boca Raton, Florida one of the most influential economic experts, Martin Feldstein predicted that the U.S. was going to have two years of the worst economic downturn since World War II. Anyone who studied history knows that the Great Depression began in 1929 and continued until the U.S. entered WWII after Pearl Harbour. So in other words, Feldstein was saying that we are going to have the worst economy since the Great Depression, but he avoided the word 'Depression' because it's considered bad luck to even say it.

I am on a fixed income and I think we are in a depression. Too many jobs being lost, our dollar is way down, we are spending more than we have in this stupid war and we are last out of the developed nations in taking care of it's people as in health care. What does that say? It sounds kind of depressing doesn't it. Our economy is going backward and that means a depression.

I think we are in a recession here in Florida. Too many families without jobs and too many going into forecloser on their homes.

I think we are in a recession. Unemployment is at an all time high, gas prices are ridiculous (which affects a lot of people), prices on everything are going up, and foreclosures in some states are out of hand. And its not getting any better any time soon.

Apparently most of the people have a much worse outlook that I do. Hubby just received a very satisfactory pay increase, and he makes enough money to make the payments on both our primary house and our rental house. Our investments continue to do better than the daily averages. Some family members have been unemployed for several months, so I agree there is a problem. I was raised to prepare for the worst, and I have several cabinets filled with food, water, and seeds. I maintain a garden and eat fresh vegetables and fruit. My parents lived through a full-out depression by being self-sufficient, and so can I. I remain very optimistic about the future. I have seen this kind of recession before, been through Nixon, Regan, and all, and still believe in our great Nation.

We are in a recession. I don't believe it will be a depression. We have a pretty resilient economy and lots of laws and regulations and regulators who interfere when panic sets in. with crisis there is opportunity.

we are in a recession though no one has actually declared it. No we won't be in a depression. Haven't you been on this planet long enough to see the 7 year cycles? It was the same way when I was little...tough times, we pull though...no depression, recession Also it depends on the state you live in. If your state has nothing to offer but factory workers and all our goods are brought in from China then your state and state of income will be affected more so than my state...I'd just move

Its called a cycle. Its not only improbable but impossible to EVER have economic growth without any kind of blow back. SO no, not even close to a depression. When i see businessmen standing on the streets selling pencils and apples then i will agree. Until then, we are just in a cycle, this is just the downswing. It will get better.

We are in a recession. The Business Cycle Dating Committee (BCDC) at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) provides a better way to find out if there is a recession is taking place. This committee determines the amount of business activity in the economy by looking at things like employment, industrial production, real income and wholesale-retail sales. The BCDC definition of a recession as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity bottoms out. When the business activity starts to rise again it is called an expansionary period. Unemployment during a recession remains in single digits. Before the Great Depression of the 1930s any downturn in economic activity was referred to as a depression. The term recession was developed in this period to differentiate periods like the 1930s from smaller economic declines that occurred in 1907 and 1913. This leads to the simple definition of a depression as a recession that lasts longer and has a larger decline in business activity. Unemployment will reach above 20% of the work force.

It is going to collapse very shortly!

US is in recession and the whole world economy is affected. Seems like Bush's war business did nothing to save his country's economy

The USA is going into a planned monitary collapse. The Federal Reserve is not federal and not a reserve but a private corporation. Their new fiet money (the Amerodollar)is already printed and ready to be distributed. Your current Federal Reserve Notes will be about as valuable as Confedeate money after the Civil war. The USA has had no money of its own since Jan. 1914, except for a short period of time when Kennedy put out American Notes owned by the federal government. When Kennedy was shot and killed the American notes were withdrawn by Johnson.

The final legacy of the Bush administration is to leave a country so broke the Obama will be unable to govern it. Next will be civil war and the return of the CSA

Our economy is on a slippery slope and no amount of funny money is going to stop it!

We are in a fast receding economy no doubt. A "Depression" is a recession that goes on for a long time and has some key indicators like currency devaluation to near worthlessness, governmental service collapse, homelessness, unemployment, civil unrest, etc. With unemployment approaching 10%, if it hits 13%, you can probably count on some civil unrest, homelessness, our currency is quicky being devalued. You could see civil unrest either in August when electricity bills are not met and heat kills people or aggravates them to riot, or in the cold of winter when energy bills are not paid and service is shut off. When basic needs are not met and government cannot provide them for you because they cant keep you warm because they are spending all of their money on National Guardsmen to keep the peace. A depression is some cleansing process that we would have to go through, the current spending by the federal government is not making better, actually is making it worse. And it is OUR fault in the beginning because we are all consumers and guilty of unsustainable hyper-consumerism. We all quit buying one day when our credit lines maxed out. That includes housing too. Blame ourselves. Now the economy must shrink for healthy reasons..we should let it, not intercede with the government tossingmoney at the economy. The US economy is SO MUCH LARGER than the government. We are wagging the dog here..and losing.