A Ray of Sunshine

Which is how I like to think of myself. Could be I'm a little delusional. Anyway . . . with the constant talk about how bad the economy is I thought I'd share something I read on the Britannica Blog. This is a post by an economics professor comparing today's economy to the 1980's recession.

I'm certainly not trying to say the economy is in great shape, and I don't think he is either. This is just a little dose of reality for people who are saying we are in a 1930's depression. You can take a look at his post and draw your own conclusions. I really know nothing about economics. My solution for the current crisis is quite simple: print more money (and give a lot of it to me!). I've been told that wouldn't work but I'm not at all convinced. I'm more than willing to be a test case.

Anyway here are some of the figures he shares (check the blog link for the rest):

Prime Rate
1981: 20.5%
2009: 3.25% (Current)

Inflation
1980: 14.8%
2008: 0% (December)

Unemployment Rate
1982: 10.8%
2008: 7.2% (December)

I'd like to point out that in an earlier post I had suggested that everyone work on having a positive attitude in order to improve the economy. Have you all seen Horton Hears a Who? I have (it was pretty good)! Anyway when all the Who's down in Whoville are trying to shout so they'll be heard there is one Who who is not shouting. It is entirely possible that everyone is thinking positive thoughts and there is one lone holdout who is holding things up. I have my suspicions about who it might be but I'm not going to point any fingers so long as things begin to improve.

Robin, the lonely (and economically challenged) blog mistress