The alternative view is that a recession is needed and is actually a good thing. We are rapidly approaching a state where if the excesses (specifically, the debt/income ratio of americans, the current account deficit, the capital surplus, the impending retirement of the baby boomers, the debasement of our monetary base, etc.) aren’t purged, we will wind up with a greater or depression later on.
We’ve already avoided at least one as the dot com bubble imploded-we need the positive sobering impacts of this one. The great depression changed the mindsets of that generation toward money forever. I pray that we don’t need to go that far, but a recession would go along way toward reminding this generation that you can’t outpsend your income forever and that the beat the joneses hedonism, narcissim, and ostentatious displays that have become so common are not worth the financial risks most must take to sustain them.
