So the Fed lowered the prime rate again to between 0% to 0.25%. While most folks may cheer about this, I believe it is a harbinger of some tough times ahead. Back in the early part of the decade, Japan cut its interest rates to 0% and that's where it remained for almost 6 years. Could that mean the US is in for a recession that could last that long. Not sure, but I think the optimists who think this is a half to one year long recession are deluding themselves. The circumstances of Japan's decade long recession are different so it's not an apples to apples comparison. However, Japan's recession was for the most part localized to Japan. The recession we are in now is a global recession that touches almost every country on the planet. If it took one country a decade to emerge from its recession (only to be caught up now in a global recession), how long will it take us to turn the corner?