Which Recession Was Worse?

chops018

Sorry if there is already a thread on this. I did a quick search and I couldn't find one.

Just wondering what people think is the worse recession, the 1980's-early 90's or the 2000's to now?

It does seem things are picking up, albeit it slowly.

Anyway, to those who lived through both, what one do yee think is worse?

Hootanany

1932 im only getting over it now.

keith16

1879 hands down. Potatoes wouldn't even grow, let alone the economy. Well, the export market was doing ok. Actually, aren't exports also doing great this time around?

Hootanany

1849 tut

cml387

Obviously the eighties.
Not only did we have no money, we also had to go around in courduroy trousers and parka's.

Sir Arthur Daley

The great one.

chops018

keith16 wrote: »

1879 hands down. Potatoes wouldn't even grow, let alone the economy. Well, the export market was doing ok. Actually, aren't exports also doing great this time around?

Very good.

And tell me, please, from your personal experiences of this era, was it hard for you to get work back then?

cml387

And we also had a recession in the 1970's, the 1950's the 1930's.Add the 1990's and the 2010's that every 20 years.

By gum I think I've stumbled on something.

Menas

The 80s was much worse.
Living standards for the poor and unemployed were much worse than now. Emigration was higher (I think). People just could not afford the things that are now taken for granted.
And the weather was brutal.

RobertKK

chops018 wrote: »

Sorry if there is already a thread on this. I did a quick search and I couldn't find one.

Just wondering what people think is the worse recession, the 1980's-early 90's or the 2000's to now?

It does seem things are picking up, albeit it slowly.

Anyway, to those who lived through both, what one do yee think is worse?

I think in general the current one is worse as people didn't have as much debt back in the 1980's.

vicwatson

This 1

Sir Osis of Liver.

This one.
In the 80's people were just skint,this time around people are skint but up to their tits in debt aswell.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The 1980s were worse by far. Firstly we went from having very little to having nothing. We had no boom before it , so had no reserves whatsoever to fall back on. Inflation was high and interest rates were through the roof. It went on longer as well. Unemployment was higher than at present and there was no minimum wage. That was an era I certainly do not want to see again and will certainly never forget.

cml387

Kyra Thousands Business wrote: »

The 1980s were worse by far. Firstly we went from having very little to having nothing. We had no boom before it , so had no reserves whatsoever to fall back on. Inflation was high and interest rates were through the roof. It went on longer as well. Unemployment was higher than at present and there was no minimum wage. That was an era I certainly do not want to see again and will certainly never forget.

Also the Troubles were festering on, one atrocity following another. Anne Lovatt. The abortion referendum. It was a depressing time.

frozenfrozen

This is my first one, probably rate it about a 6/10, but that number is artificially inflated because I loaned out too many 10/10 votes

Chucken

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

This one.
In the 80's people were just skint,this time around people are skint but up to their tits in debt aswell.

And the reason people weren't in debt was because they didn't buy what they couldn't afford.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Chucken wrote: »

And the reason people weren't in debt was because they didn't buy what they couldn't afford.

Whats done is done.
Back then the credit wasn't available or being pushed on people.

Chucken

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Whats done is done.
Back then the credit wasn't available or being pushed on people.

I bought my house in 1983 at the grand old age of 19. We had the common sense not to spend more than we could afford to pay back. I remember the bank manager asking if we needed extra to buy furniture and we said no. We got 2nd hand stuff and were delighted with it.

I'll never understand people blaming others for "pushing" money at them

cml387

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Whats done is done.
Back then the credit wasn't available or being pushed on people.

Rod Liddle (ex BBC Today editor, Spectator columnist and generally grumpy git) has a book out that,among its many splenetic points, alleges that the generation that became adults in the eighties (me) are responsble for the mess we're currently in because we were the first to benefit from credit cards and term loans to get stuff we couldn't afford

The Backwards Man

I'd rather be a kid now than going back to being a kid in the 80s

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Chucken wrote: »

And the reason people weren't in debt was because they didn't buy what they couldn't afford.

And the recession came off a period when nobody would give the average Joe credit anyway. Hence we had nothing, I see people every day who are up to their tonsils in debt and suffering from this recession but they still have mobile phones, cars, internet, sky TV, etc but in the 80s a phone in the house was a luxury. As was a car, central heating, or many other items considered must haves today. I saw my kids sleeping under piles of overcoats in winter to keep warm, ice on the inside of the bedroom windows in the morning and having to walk or cycle everywhere because we were broke.

I know, I know, tell that to the kids today....blah blah...we lived in a paper bag in the middle m
of a sceptic tank...blah.

But unfortunately that was the reality of it - and I was lucky enough to have a job!

cml387

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'd rather be a kid now than going back to being a kid in the 80s

Another thing is that, at least from 1980 to 1986, there seemed to be a real chance that we'd all be either vaporised, die of of radiation poisoning or survive in a post industrial dystopian nightmare.

Anonamoose

Was there a recession.... I hadn't noticed...

Chucken

cml387 wrote: »

Another thing is that, at least from 1980 to 1986, there seemed to be a real chance that we'd all be either vaporised, die of of radiation poisoning or survive in a post industrial dystopian nightmare.

I was working in Shannon around that time and I remember being genuinely frightened that it would be one of the 1st places to get kaboomed if it happened.:(

Frank Lee Midere

There was in fact no recession ( bar a year) in the 80's

AndonHandon

Recession is a state of mind.

Frank Lee Midere

AndonHandon wrote: »

Recession is a state of mind.

That and two quarters of negative growth in GDP.

Anonamoose

I've made a killing selling water meters.....

Sir Osis of Liver.

AndonHandon wrote: »

Recession is a state of mind.

A recession is when you loose your job.

A depression is when I loose mine.

porsche959

Frank Lee Midere wrote: »

There was in fact no recession ( bar a year) in the 80's

Strangely enough....that's true. Technically GNP grew in all but 1 year.

porsche959

cml387 wrote: »

Obviously the eighties.
Not only did we have no money, we also had to go around in courduroy trousers and parka's.

Great music though! Like Stock Aitken and Waterman!

cml387

Chucken wrote: »

I was working in Shannon around that time and I remember being genuinely frightened that it would be one of the 1st places to get kaboomed if it happened.:(

Here's some reading for you, always made me think what I was doing in 1983

porsche959

Chucken wrote: »

I bought my house in 1983 at the grand old age of 19. We had the common sense not to spend more than we could afford to pay back. I remember the bank manager asking if we needed extra to buy furniture and we said no. We got 2nd hand stuff and were delighted with it.

I'll never understand people blaming others for "pushing" money at them

By virtue of buying at that time you benefited from a high inflation period which meant that within a few years your mortgage payments were nothing in relative terms.

Basically, You got lucky. You've smugly convinced yourself that it was due to your own savviness but it really wasn't.

You're closer than you think in mindset to the types that were loading up on apartments alll around the world in the 1999-2006 period.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Frank Lee Midere wrote: »

That and two quarters of negative growth in GDP.

That is the definition used by journalists. Most economists define a recession as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.
Hence the 80s were a rescession and, indeed, the severity was close enough for it to be tantamount to a depression.

Bottom line still remains that as a state we were much less well off in the 1980s compared to today.

professore

This one is worse. Only rich people could borrow money in the 80s, so financially illiterate people couldn't screw up. There was a huge black economy. You could support a family in the style of the time with one low skilled job. Once the 80s finished there was no big debt overhang.

Chucken

porsche959 wrote: »

By virtue of buying at that time you benefited from a high inflation period which meant that within a few years your mortgage payments were nothing in relative terms.

Basically, You got lucky. You've smugly convinced yourself that it was due to your own savviness but it really wasn't.

You're closer than you think in mindset to the types that were loading up on apartments alll around the world in the 1999-2006 period.

No. We added our wages and refused to buy anything that was going to cost more than a little on to what we were paying in rent. We were paying 20punts a week in a shared house and the mortgage came in at 27.50. We were far from entrepreneurs, we were just smart with our little income.

But then again all we wanted was a forever home for our family.;)

tayto lover

Chucken wrote: »

I bought my house in 1983 at the grand old age of 19. We had the common sense not to spend more than we could afford to pay back. I remember the bank manager asking if we needed extra to buy furniture and we said no. We got 2nd hand stuff and were delighted with it.

I'll never understand people blaming others for "pushing" money at them

I bought mine in 1978. A 3-bedroom with garage for 16,075 punts.
Got a mortgage for 16 k and try as I might I couldn't get the 45 punts anywhere (had 30 saved). Eventually got her father to loan me it.
Like you I bought a bed and got the rest of the stuff second-hand, old couch, small table and two chairs. Was 2 years in the house before I could afford a bit of cheap carpet for the floors. Used a pressure cooker that we got as a wedding present for cooking nearly everything.

Hadn't a bean but it was great to have our own home after we lived in a flat for over a year.

Banjo String

The feckin 80s were horrible.

Kids nowadays don't know how easy they have it tbh, Nike shoes here, I pads there, mobile phones and x boxes.

When I was a kid, I had to walk 13 miles to and home from school, bare footed and it was uphill both ways. In order not to be late, we used to have to get up so early it was still the day before.

There was 16 of us in a one bedroom, 2 storey bungalow. We used to keep our eyes peeled for free puppies and kittens ads (free meat)

Sometimes couldn't go outside and play cos my da would be wearing my clothes.

Fcuk it was hard.

henryporter

This one. During the 80s you could buy a pint for £1.30 in Dublin

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

henryporter wrote: »

This one. During the 80s you could buy a pint for £1.30 in Dublin

But, we didn't have 1.30 to waste on a pint!

oceanman

ah the 80s wasn't so bad, I remember being in the pub nearly every night, loads of nixers around...happy days. now its just bleak full stop.

Chucken

tayto lover wrote: »

I bought mine in 1978. A 3-bedroom with garage for 16,075 punts.
Got a mortgage for 16 k and try as I might I couldn't get the 45 punts anywhere (had 30 saved). Eventually got her father to loan me it.
Like you I bought a bed and got the rest of the stuff second-hand, old couch, small table and two chairs. Was 2 years in the house before I could afford a bit of cheap carpet for the floors. Used a pressure cooker that we got as a wedding present for cooking nearly everything.

Hadn't a bean but it was great to have our own home after we lived in a flat for over a year.

Just remembered the Bridging Loan. Best thing ever imo!
I know it was wasted money but after a year of being a grown up and having to pay it, you had a fair idea what it was going to be like!
Suddenly the mortgage comes through and it's less the the Bridging
loan :eek:
That extra tenner was brilliant

donegal__road

Chucken wrote: »

I bought my house in 1983 at the grand old age of 19. We had the common sense not to spend more than we could afford to pay back. I remember the bank manager asking if we needed extra to buy furniture and we said no. We got 2nd hand stuff and were delighted with it.

I'll never understand people blaming others for "pushing" money at them

I know what you mean, but there were people in Ireland during the 'boom' that were either too young, or too inexperienced to relaise that lenders were paid very well to 'sell' money to people

eviltimeban

Just reading that Ann Lovett stuff now, holy cr*p! Had never heard of it before.

I grew up in the 80s and it was a pretty low time to be in Ireland I think. There was the troubles, mass unemployment, mass emigration... it just seemed to be bad news all the time. I remember being shocked at the story of the two British soldiers who accidentally drove into a funeral procession in NI only to be dragged from their cars and shot... that story stuck with me, as a kid.

I think it started to get better around 1988; with the "988" millennium celebrations people began to take pride in Dublin (and Ireland as a whole) and perhaps things started to turn around the early 90s. When I was done with education (around 1996) everything was coming up and there for the taking. The years 2000 - 2006 or so was the peak of it all.

As for the 2008 crash, it certainly had an impact on smaller businesses (and big ones, lets be honest). I never indulged in Celtic Tiger ridicularity so was protected in a way from that. I feel now we're coming out of it, though certain quarters will keep moaning and blaming "the bankers" for their own bad choices.

Chucken

donegal__road wrote: »

I know what you mean, but there were people in Ireland during the 'boom' that were either too young, or too inexperienced to relaise that lenders were paid very well to 'sell' money to people

I still don't get it though. When "The Estates" started being built here (East Clare/North Tipp) I would say 90% of those buying were career people with good education behind them. Most of them from Dublin who ended up working all the hours god sent to buy a house that was overpriced just because it had view of a bit of a river

I left school when I was 15 and all I ever had was a "A job" and still could do the sums to know what I could or could not afford.

AllGunsBlazing

Weird, I grew up in the 80's and dont remember it being anywhere near as grim or depressing as some here are making out.

Spent a hell of a lot more time outdoors and running around with me mates than the current generation for starters.

cmore123

The 70s / 80s were much worse - however, back then we could just jump across to the USA or UK. They had loads of jobs; but with UK and USA having had their own recession in recent years which mirrored ours, Australia's been our only recent hope.

AllGunsBlazing

cmore123 wrote: »

The 70s / 80s were much worse - however, back then we could just jump across to the USA or UK. They had loads of jobs; but with UK and USA having had their own recession in recent years which mirrored ours, Australia's been our only recent hope.

Canada must be doing all right as well judging by the number of Irish heading that way.

everdead.ie

Kyra Thousands Business wrote: »

But, we didn't have 1.30 to waste on a pint!

£1.30 sounds an awful lot for a pint in the 80s

Frank Lee Midere

Kyra Thousands Business wrote: »

That is the definition used by journalists. Most economists define a recession as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.
Hence the 80s were a rescession and, indeed, the severity was close enough for it to be tantamount to a depression.

Bottom line still remains that as a state we were much less well off in the 1980s compared to today.

You've just reversed the actual truth. It is economists who say that two quarters of negative growth is a recession ( why would journalists come up with something so technical) and ordinary joe soaps who might make your definition. Which was also untrue of the 80's. There was no decline in economic activity, it grew every year except 1983.

The past always is poorer in modern industrial societies ( up til now) and less advanced. That doesn't mean the past was in recession.

dundalkfc10

What recession?