ABSTRACT
Long-running expansions often follow in the wake of severe recessions. By the same token, weak, short-lived upturns often occur after short, mild recessions. Enduring expansions naturally tend to follow severe recessions because such slumps, almost by definition, serve to cleanse the economy of the strains and distortions that normally mark a peak in the business cycle. It should be added that outside factors, as well as the fallibility of planners in and out of Washington, occasionally contribute to the economy's cyclical behavior. If only the business cycle could be made to fade away, but eventuality is as likely as an overnight transformation of New York City's subway system into the safest, cleanest mass-transit operation in the world. It's not about to happen. The economic system never gets cleansed during recessions of excesses—for instance, excessive borrowing—that accumulated during periods of general economic growth. In the process, larger and larger doses of stimulation are necessary to induce a given amount of growth.
