Now we know how a Golden Age dies.

After suffering real recessions every three to five years prior to 1983, the US had 25 years of clear economic sailing. Only two short, shallow recessions interrupted until the 2008-2009 storm blew in.

I had a ringside seat. Watching the economy has been part of my professional responsibilities since 1981.

The good years started after the cigar-chomping Paul Volcker induced recession and stomped inflation. It was painful. And heroic. Reagan stood behind him. Then the economy bloomed.

Greenspan followed. With both luck and skill, he gave the world what it thought it wanted – steady growth, low inflation, and cheap money.

Unemployment was so low that an astute observor quipped; “Even people who shouldn’t have jobs, have jobs”.

Prosperity bred confidence. That confidence led to greater risk taking. When that risk taking paid off – and it certainly did – it morphed into a sense of financial invulnerability. Then both private and public institutions loaded their trucks with even riskier bets. Individuals did the same.

But, of course, eventually it was overdone. Wildly. The crash splattered blame everywhere. Borrowers and lenders. Public and private. Rich, poor, and middle class. Foreign and domestic.

Curiously, the most valuable lesson has not yet been learned. Few dare even to think it. Fewer still will speak it.

We have to take recessions. They are natural and necessary reminders that trees don’t grow to the sky.