BUT IT TIMES AREN'T HARD THEN I'M NOT A HERO:

The U.S. will be just fine, thank you (Brian Hamilton, December 15, 2008, Washington Times)

There is probably something in humans and in every generation that makes us think that the problems we face are uniquely difficult. Much has been written about the economy and, if you accept certain assumptions from what you read, you might think that we are in the midst of a global depression. Yet it is important to put the current economy in perspective. We might even try reviewing and analyzing some objective data.

Last quarter, U.S. gross domestic product fell at a rate of 0.5 percent, which means that the total value of goods and services produced in this country fell by a half of one percentage point last quarter over the previous quarter. For the first two quarters of this year, GDP grew by 0.9 percent and 2.8 percent, indicating that economic growth is relatively flat this year, but that it is not falling off a cliff.