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Current Economy

Anthony Hill
Bus 4795

Today’s Economy vs. The Great Depression

The Great Depression left a mark on the world that remains today, nearly 80 years after it began. It re-created our banking system, molded our securities laws, and left scars on the nation's psyche that seems to have faded only modestly with the decades. During the Depression, savers watched their money evaporate in bank failures, because deposits weren't insured. Bankers became so unpopular that bank robbers, such as Bonnie and Clyde, became folk heroes. The word "depression" became so terrifying that economists stopped using it to describe a business slump. "It was an active choice of words," says Peter Bernstein, a highly revered economist. The Roosevelt administration judged the word too terrifying for the public to hear, Bernstein says. And for people who lived through the Depression, it was terrifying, indeed. With the growing global economy, issues such as knowledge, service, and valuing employee competency has created a need for flexibility to drive the competitive edge. One of the great advantages of the global economy is the new breed of virtual worker and global virtual teams which leverage both competencies and skills from anywhere in the world at any time. As a result, many of these teams have a greater capacity to solve problems and create new solutions targeted at strategic goals. But, in the face of these new fondly improvements also, came cultural differences and the need to establish trust and rapport. Competitiveness can make or break preparation for future growth. Competitiveness has become one of the most prominent business concerns in today’s economy. While what we are experiencing is less severe than the Great Depression, there are parallels that make it a useful point of comparison and a source for learning about policy responses today. Most obviously, like the Great Depression, today’s downturn had its fundamental cause in the decline in asset prices and the failure or...