...and it won't even take another world war. According to a survey of leading economists conducted by the National Association for Business Economics, the recession will end in the third quarter of 2009; that is, by the end of September. A minority, 19%, believe it won't end until December, and another 7% predict the economy will stop contracting in early 2010.

Already, this recession, which began in December 2007, is the longest since World War II picked the country out of its Great Depression doldrums, and has lasted this long because of the financial crisis which ushered it in.
Breathing easy now that we've got a light at the end of the tunnel? Don't. Because you won't feel the growth. The unemployment rates will keep growing larger, say economists, perhaps through next spring. So, just like the banking meltdown that got us into this mess, we'll suffer while the guys on Wall Street and in the corner office wipe their tears away with silk handkerchiefs we paid for.

Yeah, we know, you feel our pain. Wanna come down here and share some brown-rice-and-dandelion-greens stew while we send out resumes?