>Doug Henwood wrote:
>>
>>
>> The only time it was ever negative since the national income accounts
>> begin in 1929 was 1932 and 1933. (In fact there was an old rule of
>> thumb that the difference between a recession and a depression is
>> that savings rates rise in a recession and fall in a depression.) The
>> savings rate averaged 8% in the 1980s, and 4% in the 1990s.
>
>I believe there was some discussion on Pen-L a few years back over
>whether there had been one or two depressions in the history of
>industrial capitalism. I don't believe anyone argued that there had been
>more than two. That makes "Depression" sort of a hotly debated topic
>(HDT) does it not? If that old rule you cite is a correct rule, does
>that mean that half a century or so from now economists (if the species
>still exists) will be terming this period a Depression? I can sort of
>see the possibility of so arguing -- but it would certainly raise some
>thorny theoretical problems.
The difference between now & then is that in the 30s, income fell further than consumption, though both were in decline. Now, consumption is rising more quickly than income, though both are rising.
Doug