"A Tale of Two Depressions"
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3421
I highly recommend my readers to check out this article. This is a compression of today's global crisis to the Great Depression.
World industrial production, trade, and stock markets are diving faster now than during 1929-30. Fortunately, the policy response to date is much better. The update shows that trade and stock markets have shown some improvement without reversing the overall conclusion -- today's crisis is at least as bad as the Great Depression.