People always say that, but it applies only in an ordinary, garden-variety recession. In the great depression, payrolls started dropping around May of 1930, roughly 8 months after the financial contagion began (where are we now? 7 months after the financial contagion began). Then they kept dropping for about 2 years. Each time someone was laid off, they spent less, which meant some other business took in less revenue, which meant they had to lay off people, who in turn spent less...
It's too soon to tell, but I'd bet this recession is a lot more like the Great Depression than the 91 or 01 recessions, or even the 80-82 and 73-75 recessions. 91 and 01 were fueled by the bursting of economic bubbles in specific sectors of the economy (S&L and tech, respectively). 73-75 was an exogenous supply-side shock (oil crisis), and 80-82 was because of monetary policy (Volcker lifting rates to squeeze out inflation). Both 29-32 and 08-?? came about because the consumer is tapped out - they've taken on more debt than they can possibly service, so there needs to be a period of deflation while those debts are unwound and prices readjust.
As you said, it's too soon to tell. I think a lot of consumers (me included) aren't tapped out - they've been furiously saving money since September or October, and are feeling the urge to spend. Admittedly I live in a government town so we're somewhat sheltered but the lineups I see in stores (which have cut back on staff) are getting pretty long and annoying.
It's too soon to tell, but I'd bet this recession is a lot more like the Great Depression than the 91 or 01 recessions, or even the 80-82 and 73-75 recessions. 91 and 01 were fueled by the bursting of economic bubbles in specific sectors of the economy (S&L and tech, respectively). 73-75 was an exogenous supply-side shock (oil crisis), and 80-82 was because of monetary policy (Volcker lifting rates to squeeze out inflation). Both 29-32 and 08-?? came about because the consumer is tapped out - they've taken on more debt than they can possibly service, so there needs to be a period of deflation while those debts are unwound and prices readjust.