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>intentionally triggered by central banks with the aim of controlling inflation by putting a lot of people out of work This is the top comment, while someone c

>intentionally triggered by central banks with the aim of controlling inflation by putting a lot of people out of work This is the top comment, while someone calling it a conspiracy theory is down-voted. That is sad. The Fed was founded in 1913. The US had recessions in 1785, 1789, 1796, 1802, 1807, 1812, 1815, 1822, 1825, 1828, 1833, 1836, 1839, 1845, 1847, 1853, 1857, 1860, 1865, 1869, 1873, 1882, 1887, 1890, 1893, 1902, 1907, 1910. Do you notice how frequent recessions were, pre-Fed? The average duration was also much longer. Blaming recessions on the Fed (who are trying to manipulate the business cycle) doesn't jibe with the data.

davidw 7y ago
> This is the top comment, while someone calling it a conspiracy theory is down-voted. That is sad. Perhaps it's my perception, but I've noticed this more lately. I mean, there's always been a perception, for as long as I've been on this site that "things used to be better", so take that with a grain of salt, but objectively, if we don't have the "antibodies" in this community to reject obvious conspiracy theories like this... we're in a bad spot.
burlesona 7y ago
Also note how few of those made any real impact on the people of the time or were noteworthy enough that the average person has heard of them. I think the current finance era may come to be viewed in the same light as the fire-fighting practices of the past century. Always working to prevent the little fires leaves the forest unhealthy and sets up an eventual inferno that no one can control.
- aguyfromnb 7y ago
  >Also note how few of those made any real impact on the people of the time or were noteworthy enough that the average person has heard of them. Indeed. That's the norm with recessions. It just so happens that the last one, the one we all remember (2008) was...really bad. It will affect people's perceptions for the rest of their lives, much like the Great Depression.
hogFeast 7y ago
This makes no sense. The initial implementation of the Fed (until power was moved to Washington in 1934) was ineffective. The recession of 1920 (it was called a depression, and the drop in prices was one of the most severe in history) was caused by Fed policy, as was the Great Depression. The Fed has always had a huge role in the economy (and that role has changed substantially over time). What they do effects the cycle. You don't need to make wildly general conclusions. It is also very odd to call all of the periods you mention recessions...they weren't. Some of them were specific banking panics that had no effect on the real economy. The purpose of the Fed, which was effective eventually, was to alleviate the disruption caused by the agricultural cycle (which caused gold to flow in/out changing the monetary base. But there was no real mandate for economic stability, that isn't why the Fed was created, and that idea would have made no sense to central bankers until very recently (probably the 1980s, although for different reasons over time).
swsieber 7y ago
That's what i would expect from someone trying to kill the economy - prop it up for longer than normal, making the recessions greater than normal. I'd compare it to forest fires. They should be frequent and small. Make them less frequent (via suppression), and they get a lot worse and much more dangerous.

davidw 7y ago

> This is the top comment, while someone calling it a conspiracy theory is down-voted. That is sad. Perhaps it's my perception, but I've noticed this more lately. I mean, there's always been a perception, for as long as I've been on this site that "things used to be better", so take that with a grain of salt, but objectively, if we don't have the "antibodies" in this community to reject obvious conspiracy theories like this... we're in a bad spot.

burlesona 7y ago

Also note how few of those made any real impact on the people of the time or were noteworthy enough that the average person has heard of them. I think the current finance era may come to be viewed in the same light as the fire-fighting practices of the past century. Always working to prevent the little fires leaves the forest unhealthy and sets up an eventual inferno that no one can control.

aguyfromnb 7y ago
>Also note how few of those made any real impact on the people of the time or were noteworthy enough that the average person has heard of them. Indeed. That's the norm with recessions. It just so happens that the last one, the one we all remember (2008) was...really bad. It will affect people's perceptions for the rest of their lives, much like the Great Depression.

hogFeast 7y ago

This makes no sense. The initial implementation of the Fed (until power was moved to Washington in 1934) was ineffective. The recession of 1920 (it was called a depression, and the drop in prices was one of the most severe in history) was caused by Fed policy, as was the Great Depression. The Fed has always had a huge role in the economy (and that role has changed substantially over time). What they do effects the cycle. You don't need to make wildly general conclusions. It is also very odd to call all of the periods you mention recessions...they weren't. Some of them were specific banking panics that had no effect on the real economy. The purpose of the Fed, which was effective eventually, was to alleviate the disruption caused by the agricultural cycle (which caused gold to flow in/out changing the monetary base. But there was no real mandate for economic stability, that isn't why the Fed was created, and that idea would have made no sense to central bankers until very recently (probably the 1980s, although for different reasons over time).

swsieber 7y ago

That's what i would expect from someone trying to kill the economy - prop it up for longer than normal, making the recessions greater than normal. I'd compare it to forest fires. They should be frequent and small. Make them less frequent (via suppression), and they get a lot worse and much more dangerous.