Have We Forgotten How To Have A Recession?

The crash of 1929 (and the great depression that followed in its wake) was the most severe economic downturn in modern history. A huge financial bubble, record inequality, loose borrowing and bad economic policies all combined to create a perfect storm of manufactured suffering. The impact on regular workers was so bad, that many soldiers who fought in the second world war said they preferred serving on ships in the Pacific, because at least there they were supplied with rations and a place to sleep. BUT, what a lot of people forget, is that this downturn wasn’t all that unusual at the time. Sure, the great depression was a little bit… greater… than the rest, but between 1900 and 1929 there were no less than 9 separate economic crashes, and at least 4 of those would be considered major recessions by today's standards… What makes this even more concerning is that today almost 100 years later, economists and historians still don’t fully understand what exactly caused the great depression… and if we don’t properly understand the lessons of history, it makes it very hard to learn from them. The only thing is… by one means or another, we have actually gotten really good at avoiding economic recessions… at least… on paper. Since the end of the second world war the frequency and severity of economic downturns has constantly declined. Now you might point to examples like 2008 and the lockdowns of 2020, but they are more of the exceptions that highlight a rather concerning rule… The global economy really did take a beating five years ago thanks to lockdowns, but the average person actually saw their debts decline, savings increase and overall financial situation improve. Beyond that of course, some other people did far far better. Almost a century on from the great depression it looks like one of two things have happened, either we have found a cure for economic crashes… or we have forgotten why we had these downturns in the first place…