a fortnight ago, the This American Life folks dealt with the housing crisis, as I think I mentioned. At a later point in the piece, one of the commentators wonders if the consequences of these events will humble us into a 1930s or 1970s style depression. The suggestion, of course, is that the latter is less devastating, and thus you’ll be glad to hear the evidence suggests that outcome. However, those of us who remember what happened to poor folks in the 70s, especially urban poor folks, know that modestly devastating to the middle-classes is deadly for the poor. Just to bring that into sharp relief, and since I came across it,check out this photo essay of New York in the 70s and 80s.
