Dean Baker, writing for TPM Media, gives us a glimpse of what a real recession might be. In the comments, someone also makes the additional point that this time around, it is the banks specifically that are taking the brunt of the damage. That means that the institutions that normally balance out recessions are in deep trouble, and so are we.

Sleep tight, kiddies:

What Will the Recession Feel Like? | TPMCafe

In the event that the recession proves to be severe and looks more like the 1980-82 downturn, then we will be looking at an increase in the unemployment rate of almost three percentage points. The rise in the unemployment rate for blacks and teens will be close to five percentage points, and for black teens the increase will be nine percentage points. We still will not have recovered to current unemployment rates by the time of the next presidential election in 2012.