UPS AND DOWNS.

UPS AND DOWNS. When I was studying economics in the sixties, the prevailing view of the economy was that there would always be booms and busts. In fact, it was thought that there was a regular pattern to the booms and busts—business cycles. There was an important course devoted to business cycles. I posted here about “Minsky Moments.” Hyman Minsky believed that: “A fundamental characteristic of our economy is that the financial system swings between robustness and fragility and these swings are an integral part of the process that generates business cycles.” If your view of the economy is that booms and busts are normal, you may look at the current financial crisis as an unusually severe example of something that occurs every few years.