Do the Math

Home
The Myth of Liberal Sophistication
Do the Math
Drill for America's Oil Now
Democratic Defeatism
Global Warming Hysterics
Iraq

 Today's liberal media provide no historical context in their reporting, giving the impression that America's problems are worse than they've ever been. The numbers simply don't bear this out. 

On the Economy

How many times have we been told that this is the "worst housing crisis since the Great Depression", or the "worst jobs data since the Great Depression".  But consider the following facts.

TODAY: The unemployment rate hovers around 9.5%. 

THE DEPRESSION: The unemployment rate in 1933 hit 25%.

 

TODAY: The mortgage foreclosure rate hovers at around 5%

THE DEPRESSION: The mortgage foreclosure rate hit 50%.

TODAY: The US economy is growing at about 0.5% per year.
THE DEPRESSION: The US economy lost 30% of its value.

TODAY: Inflation is largely under control.
THE DEPRESSION: The problem during the depression was not inflation but deflation. Prices and wages were plummeting so badly that businesses and farmers could not afford to stay in business. Many of President Roosevelt's remedies were aimed at raising prices of everything from farm products to workers wages.

THE DEPRESSION: over 7,000 banks failed.

On the War

TODAY: roughly 4,500 Americans have sacrificed their lives in Iraq.

World War II: More than 400,000 Americans sacrificed their lives in World War II.