"X," I love you like a brother ... but have you looked at the stock market today or lately?
Discretionary spending is tough when your entire portfolio is underwater. Yes, one supposes: this, too, will pass. And the stock market will be off on another insane romp: once Biden cures inflation, Putin surrenders, and COVID isn't savaging opened schools.
You're compelling. Libraries are compelling. The detail about Billie Jean King's tennis dress was compelling. But many people who rely on their savings to live the good life [incl. giving to charity] (as I do) are bunkered down until this latest storm clears.
Here's some comparative data from Forbes:
The 2008 Great Recession
Start: December 1, 2007
End: May 31, 2009
This recession brought the worst economic contraction since The Great Depression. Precipitated by a housing bubble which burst, U.S. stocks were only 2.7% overvalued when it began. Nonetheless, stocks proceeded to sink, ultimately losing 53.78% from peak to trough. By the time it ended, stocks had recouped about 14% of the loss, ending the recession down 40% from its October 9, 2007 peak. It then took four years for the Dow to fully recover from the crash.
Understandingly yours, tom