Will the US be able to avert another cyclical crisis?

Berkeley

LATER this century, when economic historians compare the "Great Recession" that started in 2007 with the Great Depression that started in 1929, they will arrive at two basic conclusions.

First, they will say the immediate response of the US Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury to the crisis in 2007 was first-rate, whereas the response immediately after the stockmarket crash of 1929 was fifth-rate - at best. The aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crash was painful, to be sure; but it did not become a repeat of the Great Depression, in terms of falling output and employment.