It's been my contention, whether we reduce deficit spending or stimulate the economy, that we are likely already in a global depression. It appears that Paul Krugman agrees:
We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.The global economic system has almost won its war with nation-states.