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>the jobless rate reached around 16 to 17 percent. It’s a jobs disaster, to be sure, but not the same scale as the Great Depression. In many ways this is worse
by billswift 15y ago
>the jobless rate reached around 16 to 17 percent. It’s a jobs disaster, to be sure, but not the same scale as the Great Depression.
In many ways this is worse than the Great Depression. People are much more dependent on jobs today-in the thirties fewer people had mortgages they needed to pay and more lived in rural areas where food was more available (gardening or barter).
- a3camero 15y agoAlthough people today are far more wealthy as a result of astonishing increases in productivity that have led to much lower prices for goods. Consider how much you can buy at a dollar store for one hour's labour today. Then there are the much harder to calculate ways in which you are better off such as new medicines and technologies (e.g. the internet [Hacker News]).
- billswift 15y agoMost people are better off, especially in what they can buy -- but in the context of NOT HAVING A JOB, and therefore not being able to afford anything, that doesn't matter.
- a3camero 15y agoThat's true, and although I don't know much about the US welfare system, I assume you're better off on welfare than many people were not on welfare 80 years ago (economically).
- yummyfajitas 15y agoI'm willing to bet that the fraction of people with flush toilets is higher among people on welfare today than it was in the general population during the 20's or 30's.