SAN DIEGO — Trending on social media right now, a term called “silent depression.” Simply put, our economy, with high gas, rent, and food prices, is so bad right now that it's putting a bigger financial strain on Americans than what they experienced during the great depression.
Are we living in a silent depression?
In short, no. A recent viral video on Instagram and TikTok leads viewers to believe the economy during the Great Depression is better than today's. The video has over a million views and more than 10,000 comments.
“When you compare the great depression to today, this is absolutely going to blow your mind,” starts the video by @fmsmith319 on Instagram and TikTok. The video compares life in 1930 to 2023. “The car was 46% of the salary (in 1930), the car today is 85% of the salary,” he goes on to point out.
CBS 8 spoke with an economist for more context.
“I would disagree with that,” said Charlie Dougherty, an economist with Wells Fargo.
While he does agree times are tough, he says it's not all gloom and doom. He believes gas prices will continue to drop next year, food prices will stabilize, and rents won't rise nearly as fast as they have been. His one area of concern is people losing their jobs.
“As economic growth slows and potentially contracts, that will likely bring a somewhat higher rate of unemployment over the next year or so,” he said.
But he added that one area of the economy that is staying relatively strong is travel — and that's good news for jobs in San Diego.
“There's been a really strong rebound in tourism over the past few years and San Diego's economy is driven, still, by tourism,” Dougherty said. “So you're still seeing strength along those lines.”
Economists also point out that the 1930 numbers in the video probably aren't accurate because reliable government data didn't exist before 1940. Also, back then we didn't have as many government programs like social security, welfare, and food stamps.
So while things aren’t great right now, Dougherty says this won't be as bad as the great depression - or last nearly as long.
“We're actually looking for growth to recover pretty solidly toward the end of 2024 and into 2025.”
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