For some countries, it may already be too late to keep their economies in a recession hoping for a recovery late in the year. This would almost certainly include the retail and automotive sectors, and could, if the government does not take appropriate action, move to the largest financial firms. The IMF contends that several of the largest economies are already in depressions. Each job lost is a series of lost sales for a number of American companies. Those firms are faced with more rapidly falling sales as the year passesThe ride down may just be beginning.