I think what we are seeing in the economy today is a case of localised depressions, whilst keeping in mind a depression is severe recession.  There are many factors that influence the entire economy on a whole like higher prices on staple items of the American household, of which are felt by all Americans, but there are localised factors that specifically effect a community or neighborhood whose residents are tied together by either their personal wealth or ‘area of work,’ and these localised factors expound the problems of said localities.

On a whole Americans may, in the interim at least, be able to deal with the increased economic hardships but if one were to look specifically community by community they would see a great difference in each communities ability to deal with those economic hardships.  Let’s take one example:  One community, whose residents largely earn greater then $50,000, and live in a 4+ bedroom house with 1 or more kids with both parents working - can largely afford the cost increases as well as bill payments.  However take a look at another community, whose residents largley earn greater then $15,000, with the same familial standard and only one parent works.  Both communities are largely white.

The first community doesn’t suffer from foreclosures on houses within the community, they have a stable job supply of usually engineers, scientists, accountants, and other white collar jobs.  The second community has many foreclosures, bringing down the home prices on homes that were already cheaply priced compared to home prices in the first community.  The job makeup of the second community is largely blue collar work, of which job creation has declined over time.  Because of the devaluation of assets (homes) in the area, and the lack of higher paying jobs in order to keep up with higher itemized prices the people of the second community may, in the long term, not be able to deal with the economic realities of day to day living.

Unfortunately, the political realities don’t look at this widespread community based economic decline.  A hardship that actually knows no bounds of race or culture, but equally effects the middle of America as it does those city dwellers.

The second community would be facing a depression, where the first community may be dealing with a recession but nothing they couldn’t pass.