7. This recession is very different, and comparisons to past recessions are not good predictors. There has never been a worldwide banking collapse like this since the Great Depression.
8. Real estate will go back to being a long-term investment instead of a trading vehicle as it became in the last 15 years.
9. The Internet has changed everything related to unemployment. Now the entire world is competing for many jobs in the U.S., such as computer-related processing, research, financial modeling, accounting work, et cetera. This means recovery from high unemployment will take much longer.
10. Unemployment will drop slowly, and it will be 2014 before coming down to 5 percent to 6 percent. Companies will first end short work weeks, expand hours, hire temporary staffing and then rehire. Wages will remain restrained for many years due to the slow recovery and overseas competition.
11. Asia will lead the world back. The young people there are hungry to learn and earn, while in the U.S. young people are “entitled.”