Congress shuffles while the economy stifles

Talking to a contemporary of mine today, he lamented he has not seen business this slow in his lifetime.  Of course neither he nor I were alive the last time there was 9% unemployment for more than 3 years.  Neither is anyone else now alive, since even the depression years of the 30s did not have such sustained levels of unemployment.  Of course, the social safety net as we know it did not exist in the 30s, so you either got any kind of menial job or you stood in bread lines.  Today's unemployed are still networking with cell phones and computers and many are collecting unemployment, but money is still tight, and I would guess there is a lot of pasta and ramen noodles being consumed.  Certainly they are passing on produce, since many items are in short supply and in a normal market situation prices would be much higher.  I think if/when this Great Recession finally ends, there will be sticker shock on most food items because of the uncertainty the weather has introduced to farmers.  Without the incentive of higher prices, there will be much less supply of produce and staples.  It's a Brave New World, even if few realize it yet.   Meanwhile, I'll keep pulling weeds and hoping for rain, or I'll have my own mini crop disaster at Casa Monzeglio.