MK - you are just young enough that your parents wouldn't remember the Great Depression. If they are still living, spend some time talking to your grandparents, and let them tell you stories.
In the Great Depression, unemployment hit 22%, and most jobs in mining or manufacturing were only open 3 days a week. Money was so tight that farmers burned their corn because it was cheaper than selling it and buying fuel. Most Americans owned only one pair of shoes and three sets of clothes, and washed and switched them out as needed. Oh, and at least one of those sets of clothes would probably have been hand made out of the fabric saved from flour or potato sacks.
We haven't seen anything like the Great Depression in our lifetime, and I seriously doubt we will. But that's just me.
Terry, I already know people who are panicking and starting to hoard. The funny thing is that hoarding often creates the shortages you fear (anyone remember the 'gas crisis' of the early 1970's?)
Personally, I wish the Goerrnment would just leave the businesses alone. Yes, some will have to close. And the sooner they do, the sooner their employees will be safely working for other, healthier companies that could afford to buy the old ones out.
Worst case scenario: Many of us will lose jobs, get new jobs, and/or be out of work for a while before we find a new job. Others of us will have to help some friends or relatives out with a temporary place to live. For all of us, times will get very difficult and we'll all be forced to save money and pay cash, rather than live on credit card debt. Question: Would that really be so terrible?
