In a normal recession, the to-do list is clear. Copies of Keynes are dusted off, the banks lower interest rates, the president and Congress cut taxes and hike spending. In time, purchasing, production and loans perk up, and Keynes is placed back on the shelf. No larger alterations to the economy are made, because our economy, but for the occasional bump in the road, is fundamentally sound. This has been the drill in every recession since World War Ⅱ. Republicans and Democrats argue over whose taxes should be cut the most and which projects should be funded, but under public pressure to do something, they usually find some mutually acceptable midpoint and enact a stimulus package. This time, though, don’t expect that to be the end of the story — because the coming recession will not be normal, and our economy is not fundamentally sound. This time around, the nation will have to craft new versions of some of the reforms that Franklin Roosevelt created to steer the nation out of the Great Depression.
