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The unemployment rate in the U.S., currently at 6.7%, is serious, but it is lower than the peak unemployment rates for the last three major recessions. In the recession of the early 1990s the unemployment rate exceeded 7.5%. In the recession of the early 1980s the rate reached above 10%. Finally, in the recession of the mid 1970s the rate got above 8.5% (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).I'm not saying we should be happy about 6.7% unemployment, nor am I saying that the number is moving in the right direction. What I am saying is that this is NOT the worst recession since the Great Depression.
The government is throwing money around faster than the 15-year-old child of a billionaire, and perhaps more foolishly. In just a few months we have seen almost $1 trillion appropriated for bailouts mostly to the banks that got us into this mess. All of this goes on the national debt. That's roughly $50 billion extra PER YEAR just to pay the interest on that additional debt. That means higher taxes or lower spending later when we grow up and balance our budgets, and that's going to hurt.
Macroeconomics is really streaky. When we think things are getting worse, we tend to act in a panicked way that makes the situation even tougher than it has to be. Don't be fooled.
