It is a depression

at least according to Barry Eichengreen and Kevin O'Rourke and if you look at the world rather than just at the U.S. Here are a couple of charts to support their point of view.The first chart (on the left)shows industrial output for the world then (blue) and now (red). The second chart (on the right) shows the trajectory of the stock market. The third chart plots world trade volume. But don't despair. Our reaction to the problem is much faster than that in 1929.