Here is an economics quiz; well it’s not much of a quiz because the first part is answered in the cartoon above.

Who made the following statements?

#1. “From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point.”

#2.”I am convinced that we have passed the worst and with continued effort we shall rapidly recover.”

The first, of course was Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaking at the Brookings Institute yesterday. The second was President Herbert Hoover addressing members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 1 1930.

I am no Hoover basher; I quite truthfully think he was much maligned. The point is, then as now, we are in uncharted territory. The floor could just as quickly drop out from under the “improvements” in the economy today as they did back in 1930.