currency

[novapsyche]

It's my sneaking suspicion that the Great Recession is just that because this time around we actually have Welfare in place to keep people from standing in food lines. Food stamp usage is becoming the norm for a significant minority of the American populace: 10% utilize them (NYT). That's not including WIC (for which my family qualified when I was a child) or unemployment.

Without these "entitlement" programs, our economy would have not just depressed, it would have cratered. At least with these funds, grocery stores stay open, children remain fed, adults do not defenestrate themselves.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[delosd.livejournal.com]

You used defenestrate in a post!

Sigh and swoon.

[davidfcooper.livejournal.com]

True. And removing the 1930s era regulations of the financial industry during the Clinton and Bush administrations in the 1990s and the 2000s is in large part to blame for the financial industry's tumble in 2008 and the resulting Great Recession. Nor are we out of the woods yet; forecasters predict there will be more foreclosures in 2010 than there were in 2008 & 2009 combined. A double dip recession is a real possibility.