catastrophe probably prevented this becoming a great depression, rather than great recession. that is what i believe. i recognize it is totally arguable and i am happy to have that argument. but regardless, we did get a great recession out of the financial system collapse. unemployment numbers became unsustainably horrific. even as jobs started to come back, the economy returned to positive growth, unemployment rate is still atrocious. the great recession and high unemployment meant not just human misery, but continued bad economic consequences, people not making an income are not paying income taxes, people not buying things aren't paying sales taxes. there are strains providing services to a population more needy because inch worse economic shape. state budget deficits around the country are bad and they are bad because of the great recession, which remember, started at a specific time, the fall of 2008, and it started for a specific reason. it happened because of wall