All the Alex Bain you can handle! — tmblg: Job losses in this versus the 1990 and...

Job losses in this versus the 1990 and 2001 recessions

I’m surprised to learn both that the ‘01 recession was worse than the one in ‘90, and that it lasted longer. I wonder what the next bubble to burst will be in 8-12 years? I’m trying to think of other industries that employ a lot of people, touch a lot of consumers, and whose collapse would impact a ton of adjacent industries.

I guess I can imagine us saying in another decade: “How did we think the advertising industry would survive without a radical overhaul?” Or “Didn’t anyone see the pharma implosion coming?” Those are just the first two ideas to come to mind, but if networks and newspapers started folding for want of ad support (which is already threatening to happen), the effects would be far reaching. Similarly, if drug stocks can’t hold value, could we end up going a stretch without being able to treat curable diseases?

Maybe, as a result of a 3rd bubble in 20 years, an academic branch will evolve to study and help prevent these. I’d love to read what a “bubblenomics” professor had to say about when home prices will have hit bottom :-)