The "R" word discussed by politicians and pundits should not be "Recession" but "Rightsizing"
The finance sector needs rightsizing compared to the rest of the economy, as it grew from 10% of US corporate profits from mid-eighties to 40% in mid-noughties (source The Economist).
Appetites need rightsizing: the diabesity epidemic shows we consume far too much on average.
Executive pay, acquisitiveness, population, … rightsize them.
Mind you, to get rightsized compassion and intelligence, we’d all have to yell "supersize me" compared to current statistical norms.