The individual elements of crisis today are not as extreme as in the 1930s Great Depression, but the frequency of dislocating crises has changed from roughly one major event every 5-7 years to roughly one annually, and this cumulative frequency is producing the same social impact as a single greater crisis would.

Political constituency in recent decades has been more concerned with protecting accumulated wealth (asset values) than with rebalancing and restructuring the American economy, leading to central bank asset price support that prevents healing and creates stagnation rather than enabling recovery.