by Calculated Risk on 11/12/2008 04:17:00 PM

From Bloomberg: Dimon Says Recession May Be Worse Than Credit Crisis

``We think the economy could be worse than the capital- markets crisis,'' [JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie] Dimon said. ``You really need to separate them because they have completely different effects on our businesses and on most businesses.''

Not to be outdone, John Thain, chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch compared the current contraction to the Great Depression, from the Financial Times: Merrill chief sees severe global slowdown

“Right now, the US economy is contracting very rapidly. We are looking at a per­iod of global slowdown,” [Thain] told investors. “This is not like 1987 or 1998 or 2001. The contraction going on is bigger than that. We will in fact look back to the 1929 period to see the kind of slow­down we’re seeing now.”
...
"There is no such thing as decoupling. ... Each individual economy will be more or less affected, depending on reliance on global trade and commerce.”