Is the recession in USA really that bad? A friend of mine knows a 97 year old who lived through the 1929 depression and he says that what we have in the USA now is nothing compared to 1929. there we NO JOBS in 1929. How is life in the USA today? Is media over blowing the situation? Also are we at the bottom of the stock market? Do we already see signs of bottom, e.g. Americans who could not afford to buy a house 2 years ago are now buying very cheap real estate at auctions at 2003 levels?