Buy Yourself a Job! The Real Bubble?

Interesting topic, I say. Today's Scott Adams Blog got me thinking...

" ... can you compare unemployment rates across the decades?"

His argument is that nowadays you can "buy yourself a job" whereas earlier you couldn't, and thats why the unemployment numbers aren't as inflated as they were during the Great Depression.

"...But what happens if the economy sours and all of those people who appear to be working at their small businesses are actually using their savings to stay afloat?.."

If these people, who are basically busting their savings to appear employed, were actually unemployed (as they would have been), only then can we have a straightforward assessment of the economies around the world (especially the US).

I feel the real reason for the big bust (of the bubble) was that no one saw the real unemployment numbers till it was too late. Which means no one really noticed how many people couldn't pay their dues till it was too late.