Spring Break
Trying to laugh at a depression
Sanjai Tripathi
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: Forum
OK people, now might be the time to panic.
I'm not talking about Barack Obama becoming president and unleashing his secret terrorist-socialist plan to surrender America to its enemies. I'm talking about deflation, because even though our country will now be a Mexican-speaking cross between China and Iran, there's nothing we can do about it since we didn't listen when Sarah Palin told us Obama couldn't be trusted.
In case anyone is wondering, yes, that is sarcasm. Can you believe how overheated some of the anti-Obama paranoia (nobamanoia?) was last year? It's amazing how literally people take the political spin and hyperbole during an election season, and how quickly it was abandoned after this recent election was over.
This column isn't about that topic, however. That was just my weak attempt at humor. This column is about deflation and depression, and how we need to start worrying about them.
Another depression would obviously be bad for the whole country, but first let me tell you about my own problem.
I'm supposed to make each column funny and readable, which can be a challenge. Some topics are inherently funny, like Freedom Fries, Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and Terry Schiavo. Those make my job easier.
But a Great Depression … that's a tough one to laugh at. Even the name "depression" is, well, depressing.
So I've been looking around at economic indicators and reading what some people here and there are saying, and the situation looks really bad. You already knew it was bad, but I'm talking really bad. Prices are collapsing, and jobs are disappearing very quickly.
If you are a shopper, you've probably enjoyed yourself recently, since literally almost everything is on sale. You may be wondering what could possibly be wrong with low prices. If you are an introductory student of economics, you may also be wondering why low prices won't stimulate demand enough to increase industrial production, in a self-correcting mechanism.
I'm not talking about Barack Obama becoming president and unleashing his secret terrorist-socialist plan to surrender America to its enemies. I'm talking about deflation, because even though our country will now be a Mexican-speaking cross between China and Iran, there's nothing we can do about it since we didn't listen when Sarah Palin told us Obama couldn't be trusted.
In case anyone is wondering, yes, that is sarcasm. Can you believe how overheated some of the anti-Obama paranoia (nobamanoia?) was last year? It's amazing how literally people take the political spin and hyperbole during an election season, and how quickly it was abandoned after this recent election was over.
This column isn't about that topic, however. That was just my weak attempt at humor. This column is about deflation and depression, and how we need to start worrying about them.
Another depression would obviously be bad for the whole country, but first let me tell you about my own problem.
I'm supposed to make each column funny and readable, which can be a challenge. Some topics are inherently funny, like Freedom Fries, Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and Terry Schiavo. Those make my job easier.
But a Great Depression … that's a tough one to laugh at. Even the name "depression" is, well, depressing.
So I've been looking around at economic indicators and reading what some people here and there are saying, and the situation looks really bad. You already knew it was bad, but I'm talking really bad. Prices are collapsing, and jobs are disappearing very quickly.
If you are a shopper, you've probably enjoyed yourself recently, since literally almost everything is on sale. You may be wondering what could possibly be wrong with low prices. If you are an introductory student of economics, you may also be wondering why low prices won't stimulate demand enough to increase industrial production, in a self-correcting mechanism.
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