Daniel Gross convincingly casts the comparisons between the Great Depression and the current economic downturn as inaccurate and disingenuous. Makes the insightful argument that this is an attempt for some financiers to avoid accountability. Cites some qualified experts.

A feel-good article full of cheer and promise about how 1932 lacked the safety nets we currently have in place, ignoring some of our system's basic flaws. Then it veers off into speculating that another reason for the comparison is that intellectually deficient executives responsible for the crisis can duck responsibility by refocusing attention using scare tactics.

this has value as a different perspective than we see or hear from most sources right now. there are some important points here about the differences between then and now. what i'd like to see are what consequences we might expect, including the long-term effects and potentially valuable changes which (this points out )we have from then to mitigate what's happening now

Mr. Gross makes some very effective arguments, such as the statement about the world of 1929-1933 lacking "shock absorbers" like Social Security and the FDIC.