The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how a depression today would differ from “The Great Depression of the 1930s”, and tells us (my emphasis, subscription required):
The different structure of today’s economy means that a modern depression would differ from the Great Depression of the 1930s. Fewer than 2% of Americans working today have agricultural jobs, compared with one in five in 1930. Three-quarters of today’s workers are in service-related jobs, which tend to be more stable than manufacturing, compared with fewer than half in 1930.
And then there are the social-safety-net programs that emerged after the Great Depression to blunt the blows. […] With spending on food accounting for a little less than a tenth of a typical family’s disposable income today, compared with a little less than a quarter in 1930, a modern depression wouldn’t hit people in the stomach as the Great Depression did.
Today’s cutbacks would be for more discretionary purchases — cable television, iTunes songs and restaurant meals.
Oh no, Brer Fox! Not that Briar Patch! Please! Anything but that!
For one thing, if people use less of the services, then those employers need fewer employees to provide the services. And, so, they may find that the “stability” related to manufacturing jobs is a will-o’-the-wisp.
~EdT.