With the US economy still tottering and the European economy in shambles, some economists are predicting a double-dip recession in early 2011. Few economists, however, are predicting a collapse into another ‘Great Depression’ such as that experienced by the US during the late 19th Century and the 1930s. One economist—Paul Krugman—does warn of an extended severe downturn, though, and paints a picture that is more than bleak. Yet no economists have taken the sun into their economic forecasts. The sun? Yes, the sun. The activity of the sun not only drives the weather, but to a great extent also drives the world’ s economy: Farming, fishing, horticulture, solar industries, even the chemical industry and animal husbandry depend on a quiet, predictable sun. But when the sun acts up, all hell can break loose. It has happened before and it can happen again. And now NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are both warning that the sun may be entering a violent cycle—a period of intense activity that has not been seen by humans for almost 150 years. The last massive cycle that occurred in 1859 brought catastrophe and caused telegraph lines around the US to burst into flames. [1] All of this is a possibility heaped on top of the most precarious economic environment the world has experienced since the 1930s. Tens of millions of unemployed workers…will never work again Paul Krugman recently wrote an OpEd piece for the NY Times. In the article he outlined his thoughts on why the US economy is headed for a third Great Depression. Other economists too see the US economy continuing its free fall into financial oblivion. All agree that the policy coming from Washington is driving the country into long term financial ruin. While fixes are available, the political temperament does not seem to exist to implement a turn around. Failed policies are followed by failed policies. “Tens of millions of unemployed workers…will never work again,” Krugman predicts. “We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost—to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs—will nonetheless be immense.” [2] But Krugman’s vision of a Long Depression pales by comparison under the light of the stirring sun. The sun can change all those statistics and make a depression—whether long or great—look like a relative Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society