Where is the recovery?

The recovery is in the financial markets, in the banks and maybe even in the property market, but where it is NOT, is the more telling news.
The recovery HAS NOT and WILL NOT hit unemployment figures, GDP and the general population for a while yet - maybe in 12 months time we can talk about the economy being on the mend for those other than in the privileged banking sector.
There is merit in 'talking up' the economy to help build up confidence, but we mustn't behave like the problem is over, as for many families, the problems are very real or may even be yet to come.
The UK and the US are bracing themselves for record unemployment figures which can only lead to misery, poverty and financial ruin for many. This crisis is being freely described as the worst since the Great Depression, but the situation we find ourselves in is very different from the 1930's. For a start, the abject poverty of those days was characterised by ill-health, death and homelessness. The lack of material goods suffered included clothing and the basic needs that today we take for granted. Without a complete collapse of the Western economy, we will always be in a position to prevent a repeat of the poverty of the Great Depression simply because even our poverty is wealth compared to the genuinely under-privileged.
We in the West are outrageously wealthy in world-terms and we would do well to remember that when we complain about how badly things are going for us. Similarly, we would do well to remember that when we have a chance to voice our opinion on the way bankers are paid, and the general growth of greed throughout our society. So no, the crisis is not over, but even the poorest of us is still better off than the majority of the world's population. There is a slim chance that the financial crisis has enabled some people to re-evaluate their priorities and put money into perspective - if not brace yourselves for another crash in a few years time.