Slumping Auto Production

In its Chicago Fed Letter for November, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported a dramatic decline in automobile production: 4.9 million units in July, down from 5.7 million units a year ago. Over the same period, production of light trucks remained unchanged at 6.8 million units. Perhaps to make us feel better, the Letter reminds us that during the Great Depression "the number of commercial banks fell from more than 25,000 to nearly 15,000, mostly by failure." Feel better?