No more scoffing at old stories about the Great Depression

The United States lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008, the biggest drop since America stopped building bombers and tanks at the end of World War II.

Our economy shrank at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the most since 1982, and the unemployment rate, 7.2 percent in December, probably hit 7.5 percent in January, accord to estimates.

Credit remains tight, and manufacturers are cutting jobs and reducing output to keep inventories from becoming too large.

Numerous statements are comparing today's economic crisis to the Great Depression, but a professor from the University of Michigan-Flint -- where they know about economic downturns -- says there are some real differences between today and the 1930s.

According to the professor, Mark J. Perry's blog:

* The unemployment rate averaged 17.1 percent during the Depression, compared to today's 7.5 percent.

* People in the United States are nearly eight times wealthier now than they were in the 1930s.

* We spend only 10 percent of our incomes on food, compared to 20-25 percent during the Great Depression.

* There were 9,000 bank failures during the Depression, and nearly 3,000 failed during the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Despite the failure of some major investment firms, very few banks are actually at risk of failure.

* There were no unemployment benefits, Social Security or federal deposit insurance in the early 1930s.

Still, those of us who grew up scoffing at stories of hard times from our parents or grandparents aren't feeling so smug about now.