Thread: Another Great Depression Is Off the Table

12/15/08
"You'll never be a good investor if you don't change you mind when the facts change," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Monday.

He lashed out at critics who accused him of flip-flopping on the issue of whether the economy was headed towards another Great Depression.

Cramer said he was one of the first people to start pounding the table over a year ago that the economy and the financial system were headed for serious trouble.

Cramer said the Federal Reserve and Treasury Departments were still asleep at the wheel earlier this year and that the possibility of another Great Depression existed without immediate actions to save the banking system and home foreclosures.

"But then," said Cramer, "I changed my mind." He said the facts have changed, and so did his opinion. Cramer said that while the economy is surely headed for a serious recession, the possibility of a depression is now off the table.

Cramer said that since first sounding the alarm, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and Congress have poured more than $2 trillion into the economy, stabilizing the financial system. "They're pulling out all the stops," he said.

He said there is simply not as much to worry about now as before.

"I'm not a bull, nor a bear," said Cramer, "I'm just rigorous." He cited economist John Maynard Keynes who famously said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Dec. 15 | Page 1 of 3 | Mad Money Recap | Financial Articles & Investments News | TheStreet.com

I don't think there will be great depression or anything like that, but it will be difficult to find work for many, many months.