WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 'DEPRESSION'? September 2, 2009 The facts
we face today are very different than the grim reality Americans
confronted between 1929 and 1932. True, this recession is not
over. But it would have to get improbably worse before it came
close to the 42-month duration of the Great Depression, or the
25 percent unemployment rate in 1932, says Allan H. Meltzer,
professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University. The
current recession is also much less severe than the 1937-38
Depression. A more accurate comparison is to the 1973-75
recession. Today's recession is as deep and most likely won't be
much longer than the one we experienced some three decades ago.
So why do many opinion makers insist on inaccurate and
frightening analogies that overstate the severity of present
conditions? I believe there are several reasons. First, there is
a strong political motivation to make this recession out to be
worse than it actually is - The Obama administration wanted to
make it appear as though it saved us