"recessions...carried out a necessary "cleansing process" on the economy"

[WhiskeyGirl]

Another view of bad and toxic debt.  Is it futile to try and spend our way out of a deep recession and bankruptcy?  How long will the U.S. depression last?  Twenty?  Thirty years?

"We are a very lucky country in Australia if we manage our destiny well -- allowing us to sink too far into deficit is not going to be helpful in that process," Mr Corbett told business people.

"Nevertheless, there is general agreement that Australia is in recession and that unemployment will get considerably worse.”

Mr Corbett said "recessions should be allowed to occur freely to a degree" and that they carried out a necessary "cleansing process" on the economy.

"Those countries that tried to protect themselves against the cleansing process of recessions, like Japan, have as a result never cleansed their economy," he said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25487075-5018001,00.html

iirc...the U.S. is spending like Japan.  Will we ever recover?  Did Japan ever recover?  The endless number of Banana Republics, do they ever recover?