We live in interesting times. But we're not necessaily cursed.  Longtime readers know my standard response to questions about the severity of the Greater Depression: it’s going to be worse than even I think it’s going to be. “Coming Collapse” books will undoubtedly accumulate into an entire genre in the next few years, as they did a generation ago. This time it’s not just fearmongering, although things won’t get as bad as in James Kunstler’s book “The Long Emergency” and certainly not as rough as in the movies “Road Warrior” or “I Am Legend.” But it’s a good bet that a lot more is going to change than just some features of the financial system. Let’s engage in a little speculation as to the shape of things to come.

I’ve long believed that this depression would not only be much different but much worse than the unpleasantness of the ’30s an