With the nation's economy in tatters, and talk of another Great Depression being on the horizon, some are arguing that perspective is needed.

Doc Gunther, a former state senator, and Fairfield University professor David McFadden, say the current credit crisis doesn't compare to the mire the country found itself dealing with in 1929.

"The stock market was plunging. They had people jumping out of windows," says Gunther, who lived through the depression.

Gunther also says one good thing that happened during the Great Depression was that neighbors banded together, which he thinks is needed more nowadays.

While the massive bread lines and high unemployment of the 1930s aren't being seen, McFadden says there is at least one common thread.

"I think the major similarity is the fear abroad in the land, if you will," he says. "Fear of ordinary people that their economic situation, future, their financial assets [and] bank accounts are in jeopardy."