From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It took no time at all after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested the world is in a "depression" for the entire country to get its knickers in a knot.
Mr. Brown’s spokesman said the prime minister had made a slip of the tongue when he used the word “depression.”
While facing questions from Parliament, Mister Brown told lawmakers: "We should agree, as a world, on a monetary and fiscal stimulus that will take the world out of depression.”
The opposition party jumped on it right away and said the prime minister should explain himself - that he needs to be careful with his language to make sure he doesn't undermine confidence. They asked if Mister Brown had information that everyone else didn't know about.
Mister Brown's spokesman quickly came out and said the prime minister had made a slip of the tongue when he used the word "depression”, that it was "not deliberate, and not what he thinks.”
Just a week earlier, Mister Brown admitted that Britain was facing a "deep" recession, and the country's treasury secretary has said that they are "facing some of the harshest economic conditions for decades, perhaps for a century.”
Whatever words they're using, things are getting ugly everywhere, including Britain. Statistics already show the country is facing its worst recession since 1980. Forecasters suggest that the British economy will likely contract more than any other leading industrialized country this year.
Here’s my question to you: Is the world economy in a "depression"?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
C. from Georgia writes:
You know what would help? If the media would implement a moratorium on uttering the following terms for one week: Depression, Recession, Financial Crisis, Contraction, Layoffs. I think we'd see a major improvement in the stock market, people's tempers, and the GNP. We were supposed to see some hope and change. The media is doing its best to make us all crazy!
Jeff writes:
Of course we're in a depression. The price of oil has fallen 73%, home prices are down 30%, the world's stock markets are down 40%, and cars are selling for almost nothing. It's a downward deflationary spiral. Politicians just don't want to admit that. Except for Wall Street investment bankers, it's a depression.
Meg from Troy, Ohio writes:
Jack, I am certainly no economist, but it seems that there is trouble everywhere in the world. The US and Britain are just two examples of countries facing "deep" recession or depression. I think that it is just a matter of terms. We are in deep trouble. And the "we" is not just my fellow Americans. It's a world affair.
Denis from Pittsburgh writes:
Of course it is, Jack. No one has the guts to say that we are in for a long, long recovery. Politics always gets in the way of honesty.
JD from North Carolina writes:
I'd rather spend time discussing how to promote employment and domestic production instead of making sucker-bets on how bad it will be.
Joan from Minnesota writes:
When unemployment reaches 25%, then we have a "depression.” This fear-mongering has to stop!
Tiffany from Philadelphia writes:
I think the 2.6 million people who lost their jobs last year are definitely in one.