Economic woes

Here are two good economic stories:

The first one is a projected blueprint on how America is on its way towards a Depression. Not a recession, a Depression. It's scary, and not entirely implausible. The economy has been killed by the collapse of the housing bubble, it's being driven down even worse by inflation of fuel and food prices, and the weak dollar gives us little leverage to finance our way out of this mess.

I think we're in line for a nasty recession. But I've always believed that -- despite what the financial markets want you to think -- so much of economics is impacted by gut feelings. You think there could be trouble in the Gulf, you bet high on oil futures, and gas prices go up. A new president instills some confidence in the populace, suddenly Consumer Confidence Levels rise, triggering similar rises elsewhere in the economy.

The second piece is a brainiac story on why the dollar is worth so much less than the Euro. Again, it comes back to just poor economic policies, such as giving massive home loans to people with no money and no credit. Whoops!