Poll - Do you think another Great Depression will occur in your lifetime? I happen

[RKP5637]

to think it will, but I was curious what DU'ers think. To narrow this down a bit I was thinking actually within about 20 years or less.

16 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	13 (81%)
	No
	3 (19%)
	Maybe
	0 (0%)
	Another dumb question.
	0 (0%)
	I love polls!
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[cthulu2016]

1. Do you mean after this one?

[RKP5637]

3. Yep, I think this one is just the tip of the iceberg. n/t

[cthulu2016]

8. What I mean is...

it is not known that the current economic environment will not become comparable to the Great Depression. Another leg down would do it.

[Warpy]

9. It could easily be just the warmup

The main event will occur when something happens to trigger a collapse in the entire derivatives market. Once again, the money will simply disappear overnight. Defaults in Europe might do it, a crash in Asia might do it, cyber warfare might do it, but somehow it is going to happen. It is unsustainable, an unregulated casino with other people's money.

[RKP5637]

11. Exactly! You're reading my mind! It is unsustainable and I think

we've fallen far short of reigning in the greed and slight of hand. I need George Carlin right now to inject some of his unparalleled witty humor into all of this.

I don't know what you think of Max Keiser, but I occasionally listen to him on RT. To me at least, he makes some sense of the market, the corruption and the unsustainable environment. There are too many crooks in the pot!

Just given the laws of probability something will happen, and IMO we are not protected enough from spinning out of control again. Money today is just vaporware.

[abelenkpe]

16. +1000 nt

[Andy823]

2. That depends

If our country is dumb enough to put republicans back in charge, the the odds are very high that you could be right. If the country stops the insanity and starts to see the truth about what is going on, and what the right wing plans really are, then we can avoid it.

[RKP5637]

5. I sadly think republicans will be back in sooner or later, because so

many in this country are propagandized by RW media. Sometimes I think it's human nature to be RW. Short talking points, everything black and white, and conservatism is always the simplest solution to anything for unstudied minds.

[Art_from_Ark]

21. Even if Obama wins this year, historical precedent favors the Republicans in 2016

That is, the only time in the post-Civil War era when the Democrats have won more than 2 presidential elections in a row was during the period 1932-48 (with Franklin Roosevelt winning 4 of those elections). And if Republicans regain total control, or even de facto control (like they had in 1981-87 under Reagan) then they can cause a LOT of economic damage.

[BlueJazz]

4. The only thing that would stop any chance of a deep depression...

...is the awareness and intelligence of a large share of the American people.

That's why it will happen.
The greedy will not stop until they have to...

[RKP5637]

6. Exactly my thoughts too. Too many Americans are unaware of what

is really going on and they fall for RW greedy talking points, over and over again.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. I voted "Maybe," because if the American people are stupid enough

to elect that shitstain Romney, you can bet on it. We'll see a U3 unemployment rate of 20-25% within 6 months of a Romney inauguration, coupled with decrease in GDP of 10-15% (the technical criterion economists use to demarcate a 'depression'). The two stats combined will produce another Great Depression.

[RKP5637]

14. I always have this nagging fear, never underestimate the

stupidity of Americans when it comes to elections. I do fear many are going to be swayed toward Romney, that Obama did not wave a magic wand and make it all better. And many have forgotten Bush accelerated this mess.

[coalition_unwilling]

18. Think it may have been Mark Twain (or maybe Mencken) who quipped

that no one ever went broke from underestimating the stupidity of the American people

[woo me with science]

10. People talk about the economy as though it were weather

and completely out of our control. As though the coming collapse weren't powerfully related to corrupt choices by the one percent, and as though the responses to it won't be chosen, as well.

There is tremendous wealth in this country, and there will continue to be tremendous wealth in this country even when Europe falls. We are living through a deliberate restructuring of where that wealth goes.

Our politicians have choices as to how ordinary people will fare.

[RKP5637]

12. That is what really concerns me, "Our politicians have choices as to how ordinary

people will fare." Sometimes I think those choices will clearly not favor the majority. We'll see what the 2012 election brings, then we'll have a better handle (I think) on at least our immediate future.

[sendero]

13. We're already in it..

.. but most folks just cannot face the FACTs.

[RKP5637]

15. It's unbelievable that about 50% of this country is in or near poverty and

that fact is seemingly forgotten by almost all politicians and MSM.

[sendero]

22. Forgotten ..

.... would be an improvement. Rather it is skillfully ignored and intentionally diminished and minimized.

We've been in "recovery" now for how long? - and about the only thing that has changed is the huge increase in the number of people who have "left the work force".

And the politicians and banksters move heaven and earth to be sure the banks get taken care of and the rest of the country can go hang.

It's pathetic what utter sheep the people of this country have become.

[lunasun]

17. yes 2025-2030 around there and yes I hope to be alive

[madrchsod]

19. we just avoided a great depression

i`m old but i hope my kids and grandkids don`t

[Cary]

20. It is actually very simple.

GDP = Consumer Spending + Investment + Government Spending + Exports - Imports

You can affect GDP with either monetary policies or fiscal policies. Right now we are in a depression. It's not as bad as the Great Depression but it is a depression because it is about liquidity. We can produce lots and lots of goods and services but people don't have the money to buy those goods and services.

We also have about a $20 trillion deficit in infrastructure maintenance that no one really wants to talk about. What is the difference between a $20 trillion deficit in infrastructure maintenance and a $20 trillion debt? Actually the $20 trillion infrastructure deficit is going to cost exponentially more to repair if we don't work on catching up, not to mention the catastrophic failures that will kill people.

We are at the zero bound. Real interest rates are less than zero so there is no monetary policy. Hence we must use fiscal policies and cutting taxes just isn't the best course. We need to spend and then when we get back to a part of the business cycle where we are in a sustainable recovery we need to work down the debt.

It is that simple. Republicans won't do what needs to be done because they're traitors, putting their own political interests ahead of the general welfare.

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. probably not - unless war in the Middle East collapses the supply of oil

Last edited Tue May 29, 2012, 09:44 AM - Edit history (1)

I think it is more likely that we will continue to see a gradual but relentless decrease in the standard of living for the majority, a gradual but relentless increase in wealth of the richest members of society and a of a course a gradual and relentless increase in the gap between economic classes - resulting in an almost third world living condition for major portions of the population on a scale we have not seen in a hundred years or more. Although I certainly think the Democrats are significantly less harmful in this regard than the Republicans - I do not think that it will in the long run make a whole lot of difference which party dominates the government. These trends will likely continue regardless which party dominates the government - largely because economy is now more powerful than government and both parties are beholden to the interest which support the kind of policies that increases gaps between the economic classes – the Democrats are somewhat “moderate” about it. The Republicans are extreme about it.

[RKP5637]

24. This is a good analysis of the most likely scenario if some

major derailing financial event does not occur. Many will be living in the depression era, it will not be called a depression, just a horrific wealth gap. For many, it will probably be a theocratic dystopia because life will be so miserable about the only thing left will be religion in hoping for a better life ... and the opportunists will take full advantage of that. Sadly, I think I've lived the better years of the US.