PLEASE NOTE-VERY Important embedded links in main article
Lymerick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Underneath the Propaganda, the Economy Is In BAD SHAPE …

We noted in 2013 that the British economy is worse than during the Great Depression.

The Washington Post’s Wonkblog pointed out in August that Europe is stuck in a “Greater Depression” … worse than the Great Depression.

Well-known economist Brad DeLong agrees. As does Paul Krugman.

Historian, economist and demographer Neil Howe provided the following charts via Forbes last month, showing how dire the situation is in Europe:

Great Depression v. Great Recession, United Kingdom GDP

Great Depression v. Great Recession, Europe GDP

The chart for the U.S. doesn’t look as bad …

But as Howe notes:

These figures don’t mean that the Depression was definitely worse. Though it was deeper, it … likely will be shorter than the Great Reces­sion in the United States. The recovery in the ‘30s occurred much faster than it has in recent years.

***

What’s more, from 1933 on, U.S. GDP grew at a blistering average rate of over 8% per year for the next eight years. And that includes one recession year: 1938. By 1941, 12 years after the Great Depression began, U.S. GDP was 41% higher than its pre-downturn figure. This is almost certainly a much higher level, relative to 1929, than the United States will see by 2019, relative to 2007.

Indeed, Pulitzer prize-winning economic reporter David Cay Johnston showed last year that Americans bounced back faster after the Great Depression than the “Great Recession”.

As we pointed out in 2012, the much-hyped “recovery” may be a myth:

What Do Economic Indicators Say?

BIG SNIP-MUCH more at link