Right, if ya don't count that great depression thang.
On Feb 11, 2:27 pm, "Sumerian.." <[email protected]> wrote:
> http://informationclearinghouse. info/article2196 5.htm
>
>
>
> 'This Is The Worst Recession For Over 100 Years'
>
> Ed Balls, the PM's closest ally, warns that downturn is ferocious and says
> impact will last 15 years
>
> By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor, and Sean O'Grady, Economics Editor
>
> February 10, 2009 "The Independent" -- In
> an extraordinary admission about the severity of the economic downturn,
> Ed Balls even predicted that its effects would still be felt 15 years
> from now. The Schools Secretary's comments carry added weight because
> he is a former chief economic adviser to the Treasury and regarded as
> one of the Prime Ministers's closest allies.
>
> Mr Balls said yesterday: "The reality is
> that this is becoming the most serious global recession for, I'm sure, over
> 100 years, as it will turn out."
>
> He
> warned that events worldwide were moving at a "speed, pace and ferocity
> which none of us have seen before" and banks were losing cash on a
> "scale that nobody believed possible".
>
> The minister stunned his
> audience at a Labour conference in Yorkshire by forecasting that times
> could be tougher than in the depression of the 1930s, when male
> unemployment in some cities reached 70 per cent. He also appeared to
> hint that the recession could play into the hands of the far right.
>
> "The
> economy is going to define our politics in this region and in Britain
> in the next year, the next five years, the next 10 and even the next 15
> years," Mr Balls said. "These are seismic events that are going to
> change the political landscape. I think this is a financial crisis more
> extreme and more serious than that of the 1930s, and we all remember
> how the politics of that era were shaped by the economy."
>
> Philip
> Hammond, the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said Mr Balls's
> predictions were "a staggering and very worrying admission from a
> cabinet minister and Gordon Brown's closest ally in the Treasury over
> the past 10 years". He added: "We are being told that not only are we
> facing the worst recession in 100 years, but that it will last for over
> a decade – far longer than Treasury forecasts predict."
>
> The
> minister's comments came as the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, admitted
> the global economy was "seeing the most difficult economic conditions
> for generations" . Writing in today's Independent, Mr Darling said his
> plans for shoring up Britain's finances included "measures to insure
> against extreme losses" as well as separating out impaired assets into
> a "parallel financial vehicle". Unemployment figures out tomorrow are
> expected to show the number of people out of work has passed two
> million. The Bank of England's quarterly inflation report, also
> released tomorrow, is expected to include a gloomy forecast for
> economic growth.
>
> Yesterday,
> the Financial Services Authority warned that the recession "may be
> deeper and more prolonged than expected", adding that the global
> financial system had "suffered its greatest crisis in more than 70
> years".
>
> Speaking to Labour activists in Sheffield, Mr Balls
> conceded that the Government must share some of the blame because it
> had failed properly to control the banks. But he accused the Tories of
> blocking Labour's attempts to tighten financial rules.
>
> He said:
> "People are quite right to say that financial regulation wasn't tough
> enough in Britain and around the world, that regulators misunderstood
> and did not see the nature of the risks of the dangers being run in our
> financial institutions – absolutely right."
>
> The other great depressions
>
> *Long Depression,
> 1873–96
>
> Precipitated
> by the "panic of 1873" crisis on Wall Street and a severe outbreak of
> equine flu (Karl Benz's first automobile did not chug on to the scene
> until 1886), it was remarkable for its longevity as well as its global
> reach. In Britain, it was the rural south rather than the rich cities
> of the north that suffered. The UK ceased to be a nation that relied in
> any way on farming for its livelihood.
>
> *Great Depression, 1930s
>
> The
> "Hungry Thirties" were rough on many, at a time when welfare systems
> were rudimentary. The worst period was from the Wall Street Crash of
> 1929 to about 1932, but in places such as Jarrow, the unemployment rate
> hardly dipped below 50 per cent until the economy was mobilised in
> 1940. However, for many in the south and for the middle classes, the
> times were relatively prosperous.
>
> =======
> S1000+
> =======
>
> --- On Tue, 2/10/09, John Churchilly <[email protected]> wrote:
> Fr
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