"The real question is whether the administration's get-tough policy is just whistling in the dark. In his State of the Union speech, Obama acknowledged that the country is mired in economic problems, and offered some modest proposals for job growth. Yet his strongest words were directed at the Congress for not getting anything done.

Even as he spoke, however, the unemployment rate was creeping upward (one analyst predicts 15-17 per cent unemployment for the next 7 years); the housing and commercial real estate markets were in deep trouble (the New York City commercial market volume dropped an astounding 90 per cent last year); the dollar's power and influence continued to diminish while the Chinese economy grows; and mortgage foreclosures, the collapse of local banks, and personal bankruptcies kept increasing.

One suspects that the underlying reason for the anger in the country might be an unstated one. No one has dared yet to say the Unsayable: despite optimistic reports and a rise in the stock market, we may be moving closer to a major Depression."

to read the article by George Blecher published in January 2010, click on

www.eurozine.com/articles/2010-01-29-blecher-en.html

to read the article by George Blecher "The anticlimax" published in July 2010, click on

www.eurozine.com/articles/2010-07-14-blecher-en.html#