Obama: current economic crisis not as severe as Great Depression

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- U.S. President Barack

Obama said Tuesday that the current economic crisis was not as severe as the

Great Depression in the 1930s.

"This was a big difficult situation. Now, I think

we've got to keep perspective. We're not going through the Great Depression,"

Obama said in an interview with ABC.

"I know there have been some analogies there but when

FDR took over, unemployment at that time was 30 percent," said Obama, noting the

figure now was 7.5 percent or 7.6 percent.

Obama also joked that he was "constantly trying to

thread the needle" between sounding alarmist.

"We are not just an ordinary recession, we are in a

perfect storm of financial problems," he said.

The president warned that there is no easy out for

the Wall Street. "I think it is hoping for an easy out on this thing and there

is no easy out," Obama said.

"What we've tried to do is to apply some of the tough

love that's going to be necessary," Obama said, referring to a new financial

bailout package released by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner earlier

Tuesday.