The truth is that what Obama's grandparents went through was nothing compared to what their grandparents went through, which may not be such good news. Historian Scott Reynolds Nelson, writing last October in the Chronicle of Higher Education, noted the economic parallels between now and the really bad depression known as the Panic of 1873.

Striking similarities include exaggerated optimism on continual economic growth, too much credit based on unbuilt or half-built houses, and low-cost products (from the U.S.) that undercut prices in Central Europe and threatened trade.

Things got much worse before they got better. But they did get better.

No one has a crystal ball these days -- certainly not Obama, as he keeps telling us. But his optimism and faith in the American character may be our best medicine. Asked what the American people should do -- shop? -- he urged confidence that "the same productive capacity that we had before is still there." Describing government and the economy as ocean liners, not speedboats, he said our goals are long-term. Nothing can be judged by a one-day market rise or fall. At the end of his first presidential term, Americans will be able to say that we are in a different place.

Where that is, no one dares speculate. But it does seem that history, like nature, is cyclical and that our "worsts" become less worse over time. Someday our grandchildren, those little gleams waiting to be realized, may look at their shrinking retirement funds and console each other: "Hey, back in 2009? Much worse."