Depressing link of the day

Noted economist Brad Delong:

For 2 1/4 years now I have been saying that there is no chance of a repeat of the Great Depression or anything like it — that we know what to do and how to do it and will do it if things turn south.

I don’t think I can say that anymore. In my estimation the chances of another big downward shock to the U.S. economy — a shock that would carry us from the 1/3-of-a-Great-Depression we have now to 2/3 or more — are about 5%. And it now looks very much as if if such a shock hits the U.S. government will be unable to do a d —  — - thing about it.

Ugh.

Let this serve as a quick reminder that the stakes right now are incredibly high. We can certainly have debates over how our government can best stabilize the economy, but there can be no question that the government must still be actively engaged in making sure another “shock” to the economy doesn’t happen.