http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/569065aa-b87c-11dc-893b-0000779fd2ac.html
> This will be my third business downturn. Over the years I have come to
> the conclusion that such events are not by any means all bad. They are
> a necessary evil of the capitalist system: they clear out the excess.
> During booms there is misallocation of capital and wasteful spending.
> We all get complacent and overconfident. Slumps help to ensure that
> resources are not squandered, but used productively. Organisations are
> forced to get fit or shut down. As Euripides said: “There is in the
> worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change.”
>
> Take personnel. During the good times it can be difficult to hire
> competent staff, and employers may even have to offer inducements to
> recruit. But when things get tough, talent becomes much more
> accessible as the jobs get scarcer. And existing workers try harder,
> knowing that if they get laid off they may not easily find another post.