Perhaps to quick points:

1)The Bush administration's tax cuts for the rich amount to a policy of reflating asset values after the burst bubble. This is a dangerous move, as it doesn't reflect underlying fundamentals and actually slows the corrective process. Japan had a similar case after its bubble burst, and such reflation did not do them good.

2) There are strong indications that much of the current unemployment is structural or inter-sectoral rather than cyclical and that the large productivity growth that is taking place derives precisely from the sectors that are shedding jobs (and/or exporting them overseas). Thus it would take some time for new economic sectors to form and develop to take up the slack in employment.

401k moved from S&P 500 mimic fund to all govt bonds...too many economists seem really damn sketchy today.

US Treasury bonds cant collapse can they?

The following little snippet is very interesting
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=37929.4167939815-809414361&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806

0:00am 11/04/03

U.S. October layoffs surge 125%, Challenger says By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Layoff announcements from U.S. companies more than doubled in October to 171,874, the highest in a year, according to the monthly tally released Tuesday by outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. October is typically the largest month for layoff notices, as companies slash costs at the end of the fiscal year. The Challenger survey is not adjusted for seasonal factors. Layoff announcements had fallen for three months in a row before October's 125 percent increase. In October, the auto industry sacked 28,363 workers, followed by 21,169 in the retail sector. Telecommunications companies cut 21,030. So far in 2003, 1.04 million job reductions have been announced.