Will the Recession Drive Up Suicides?

No, although a couple were charged and some were embarrassed

(NEWSER) - The government could soon prosecute a few Wall Streeters who allegedly played a role in the financial crisis, and the commission that uncovered those at fault was modeled on a similar probe after the Great Depression. So did anyone who precipitated that collapse ever go to jail? Nope, writes Brian Palmer in Slate ’s Explainer column: “The rampant speculation and eventual crash of 1929 weren't caused by fraud or illegality, but by unreasonable optimism and loose financial regulation.” More»

(NEWSER) - US tax revenue is set to shrink 18% from last fiscal year to the current one, ending in October—the largest falloff since 1932, the AP reports. Individual income-tax receipts are off 22%, and corporate revenues have sunk an astounding 57%. “Our tax system is already inadequate to support the promises our government has made,” one analyst says. “This just adds to the problem.” More»

It's not the lack of funds, it's the lack of knowing that brings us down

(NEWSER) - Americans are worrying more than they were last year, and happiness is down while sadness is up, writes Daniel Gilbert in the New York Times. But it’s not the lightness of our pocketbooks that’s weighing on us; it’s the uncertainty of the times. While most of us still have more than our grandparents ever did, the possibility of losing it makes us sick. More»

Could things get as bad for Sallisaw, Okla., as they did in the 1930s?

(NEWSER) - Many have made the parallel between the current economic slump and the Great Depression. Interested in pursuing the connection, Rafael Alvarez visited Sallisaw, Okla., an icon of the troubled 1930s as the setting of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, he writes for the Christian Science Monitor. The downturn was slower to reach Sallisaw than financial centers like New York; February found the town’s finances steady. More»

(NEWSER) - James Rickards is far more pessimistic about the economic crisis and its global implications than most of his analyst colleagues, Politico reports. But he’s also well respected by US intelligence and defense services. Here are four of his nightmare scenarios.

• Terrorism: Al-Qaeda has long sought to disrupt the US economy; the current crisis would give any attack a "force multiplier effect"