ARE WE BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO? TEN NEWS HEADLINES FROM SEPT. 2008 TELL THE STORY

THINK PROGRESS, September 4, 2012 -- Recently, the Romney campaign has taken to telling voters that Obama “can’t tell you that you’re better off” now than four years ago. While the economic numbers suggest otherwise, there’s a simpler way to understand the reality of four years ago: take a look at what people were saying at the time.

September 2008 was the month where the financial crisis — caused in significant part by Republican-supported deregulation of the financial industry — really took off, a point reflected clearly in the newspaper headlines from the time:


STOCK SHOCK FELT ROUND THE WORLD. Gets ‘nasty’ as Lehman tanks, Merrill vanishes, AIG wobbles, New York Daily News, September 16, 2008.


DEPRESSION COMING? BOIL SOME BEANS; LADIES WHO QUILT GIVE TIPS ON SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES, Albuquerque Journal, September 21, 2008.


ONE DAY ON THE BRINK: ON WEDNESDAY, IT SEEMED U.S. ECONOMY MIGHT COLLAPSE, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 21, 2008.


“GREAT DEPRESSION” CLOSER THAN U.S.ADMITS, REPORT FINDS, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 27, 2008.


WILL BUSH BECOME THE NEW HOOVER? Politico, September 19, 2008.


DEVELOPERS BEND UNDER HOUSING MELTDOWN, Colorado Springs Gazette, September 27, 2008.


DEPRESSION SEEN POSSIBLE, Florida News-Press, September 27, 2008.


WALL STREET MELTDOWN CONTINUES, CNN, September 17, 2008.


IS IT REALLY THE NEXT “GREAT DEPRESSION?” NPR, September 19, 2008.


BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, WARNINGS OF CALAMITY, The New York Times, September 20, 2008.





ARE WE BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO? TEN NEWS HEADLINES FROM SEPTEMBER 2008 TELL THE STORY.

STOCK SHOCK FELT ROUND THE WORLD. GETS “NASTY” AS LEHMAN TANKS, MERRILL VANISHES, AIG WOBBLES, New York Daily News, September 16, 2008.


DEPRESSION COMING? BOIL SOME BEANS; LADIES WHO QUILT GIVE TIPS ON SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES, Albuquerque Journal, September 21, 2008.


ONE DAY ON THE BRINK: ON WEDNESDAY, IT SEEMED U.S. ECONOMY MIGHT COLLAPSE, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 21, 2008.


“GREAT DEPRESSION” CLOSER THAN U.S.ADMITS REPORT FINDS, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 27, 2008.


WILL BUSH BECOME THE NEW HOOVER? Politico, September 19, 2008.


DEVELOPERS BEND UNDER HOUSING MELTDOWN, Colorado Springs Gazette, September 27, 2008.


DEPRESSION SEEN POSSIBLE, Florida News-Press, September 27, 2008.


WALL STREET MELTDOWN CONTINUES, CNN, September 17, 2008.


IS IT REALLY THE NEXT “GREAT DEPRESSION?” NPR, September 19, 2008.


BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, WARNINGS OF CALAMITY, The New York Times, September 20, 2008.