The economic downturn and instabilities of the past eight years has been perhaps the foremost issue of early 21st-century America. Not since the Great Depression of the 1930s have material hardship and anxiety spread so wide and deep across the land.

For this assignment, find a news article relating to the impact of the downturn on ordinary Americans. (This article should be from an on-line newspaper -- e.g., the New York Times orWashington Post -- or news magazine -- e.g., Newsweek or Time).

Open your commentary with a brief description of the article itself. Then, drawing on the content of the article, address the following questions:

1. In what ways does the social impact of the recent downturn resemble that of the Great Depression?

2. In what ways does it differ?