Economy: Depends what bad is.

Link here to Ridholtz:....And it shows, for starters, that the economy is not yet as bad as it was in the early 1980s. It's not even that close to being as bad. The ranks of unemployed and underemployed, controlling for the size of the population, were much larger in 1982 than today.

He is a techzilla and his research is solid. BTW: This recession ain't near to the one in '80. There is also a lengthy piece in the NYT (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED) Hat tip: Slider on the Black