How we got here and how to get out before it gets worse

A fascinating article here on the causes of our present economic malaise written by Joseph E Stiglitz, which I found through 3QuarksDaily, a site I visit regularly and also highly recommend for the intelligence of its links. The article suggests that there are striking parallels between where we are and the Great Depression of the '30s, which might not seem such an original idea except that Stiglitz believes the Depression was not caused by a banking failure but by the changes to employment wrought when the agriculture sector no longer needed 25% of the workforce to produce food. The banking crisis sat on top of that in the same way that this banking crisis sits on top of the increased production attained by mechanisation and globalisation. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist, also offers some solutions - borrowing to invest in infrastructure and education.  The piece originally appeared in Vanity Fair.