The Long, Dark Shadow of Depression

BERKELEY â?? Four times in the past century, a large chunk of the industrial world has fallen into deep and long depressions characterized by persistent high unemployment: the United States in the 1930â??s, industrialized Western Europe in the 1930â??s, Western Europe again in the 1980â??s, and Japan in the 1990â??s. Two of these downturns â?? Western Europe in the 1980â??s and Japan in the 1990â??s â?? cast a long and dark shadow on future economic performance.