US set to tighten loan securitisation rules

In a recession they have to curb costs and learn new habits. So there can be good side-effects, but to call a recession good in itself is a bit much. After all, people lose their jobs and face depression."

John van Reenen, director of the centre for economic performance at the LSE, calls that weeding-out process "creative destruction". "It's inevitable," he says, "it's how capitalism works. For the good to flourish, the bad must go to the wall." That process is happening all the time, but in a recession it is at its most intense. Like Pirie, though, Van Reenen stops short of welcoming a recession. The fire may renew the forest, but people get burned too.

Pirie says that the companies which suffer in a recession are often the ones in the middle. The designer stores are safe because the rich are insulated; the cheap stores are likely to be OK because many will be inclined to trade down. read more