> Europe recovered from WW2 relatively quickly; surely the US could also recover from a partial market collapse. Well, part of that is because of countries lik

> Europe recovered from WW2 relatively quickly; surely the US could also recover from a partial market collapse. Well, part of that is because of countries like ours which weren't completely destroyed were able to assist financially, help rebuild essential infrastructure, and -- perhaps most importantly -- provide political stability to the region (which they desperately needed in 1945). I'm not sure who would have played that role if we had let the entire global financial system melt down in 2008.