b_b: One of the big problems (perhaps the biggest) that the author doesn't touch on is the willingness of people to believe in an alternate reality. Those of us who don't have our head buried in the sand read this stuff over and over and are left with a sense of despair. Others choose not to read at all, or chalk it up to "liberal media" lies (yet another myth; as Colbert says, "Reality has a well known liberal bias"). Data don't matter to these people.

One of the interesting contrasts between now and the Depression is the response of the people. The people started electing Dems in droves when the Depression hit, because they were sick of being treated like milk cows by bankers. Dems had a majority in both houses and the Presidency for years after that. Now, we got 1.5 years of Democratic control, in which they could agree on nothing among themselves, followed by a story about how regulation actually caused the current calamity and the impending death panels. Result: business as usual.

posted 4513 days ago