Anger

It would appear that denial stage of the 2007 Depression's actually being a depression is gradually coming to an end. Gordon Brown, the U.K. P.M., is on record using the "D" word, albeit as a supposed 'slip of the tongue.' The more credible and honest Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, calls it like he sees it.

As every student of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross knows, after Denial comes Anger. The ongoing spate of economically-related suicides, and murder-suicides shows that often anger is inwardly directed. Others will be looking for someone to blame. Some are actually blameworthy (corrupt mortgage brokers and regulators who looked the other way come to mind), but undoubtedly as is typical in human affairs, vengeance will be meted out upon the deserving and innocent alike.

Failure to prosecute criminal behaviour is always disruptive to social order, and reflects poorly on governmental legitimacy. At present there seems hardly any movement afoot to actually bring any but the worst of the criminally negligent to task. This will prove a terrible precedent as the social mood turns uglier in the coming months.