What’s Different About Today’s Government Deficit and Debt?
As of today, the U.S. government’s current deficit and debt are indeed currently at unprecedented levels for peacetime—once we account for them appropriately.
Nine banks have failed so far in 2009, including three that went down on Friday. Twenty-five went under in 2008, equal to the entire number that failed in the previous seven years. The FDIC currently predicts that bank failures through the next four years may cost the deposit insurance fund more than $40 billion. The FDIC has classified 171 banks as "problem."
From Bloomberg: