Unemployment: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/undercounting-underemployed/ Inflation: http://mwhodges.home.att.net/inflation.htm
One income used to do it for a family, now your wife has to work to pay the tax bill essentially. Public sector total income is probably passing the 50% of GNP mark. That's sort of the bench mark level of taxation where a culture will collapse... The public sector, being such huge debt hogs, really cannot stand any deflation, they will be paying back their debt with more precious dollars, that is why they spend so much to stimulate, they are thinking about themselves more than the private sector or the general wellbeing of the culture. Currently, considering how they are fumbling around with the real problem, the toxic assets, and shoveling money just anywhere they can find that it will go to stimulate... I think that once the credit freeze is somehow thawed they will have a hyperinflating situation and they won't mind, it gets them out of debt rather quickly so they can go back to the borrow and spend [steal] cycle...