I think many financial historians would agree that the fundamentals generally will hold true.
That being said, there's no precident for what's going on today. It's more complicated, deeper and broader than anything ever experienced. That's why everyone is so freaked out. They don't know if the ship will right itsself or the planks are going to start peeling away.
One big difference could be the personal savings issue. It's like a bilge pump. Just like with business, when people aren't stretched with credit they have a better ability to manage their cashflow to deal with adversity.
-spence
|