Great Depression Then and Now

We've been hearing so much about the Great Depression and how we are in the worse time since....

Paul Krugman, opinionator (did I just make up a word?) from the NY Times did an op-ed about how government has saved us from the downward spiral of real depressionism (and not the period of art).

"But there are great differences between the great depression then and now, that we don't hear about. So what saved us from a full replay of the Great Depression? The answer, almost surely, lies in the very different role played by government. All of this has helped support the economy in its time of need, in a way that didn’t happen back in 1930, when federal spending was a much smaller percentage of G.D.P. And yes, this means that budget deficits — which are a bad thing in normal times — are actually a good thing right now.Nonetheless, reasonable estimates suggest that around a million more Americans are working now than would have been employed without that plan — a number that will grow over time — and that the stimulus has played a significant role in pulling the economy out of its free fall. All in all, then, the government has played a crucial stabilizing role in this economic crisis. Ronald Reagan was wrong: sometimes the private sector is the problem, and government is the solution."

And a hit below the belt for Regan...a liberals dream...

Krugman may be right, right now. But 'sometimes' is rarely the normal time. And sometimes government is the problem... and each person's solitary prayer is the answer.