In itself, this is not unusual; the world economy has tended to experience a downturn every 7-10 years. The current global downturn is, however, more severe than we have experienced for a long time. This is because in some important countries a banking sector crisis has been overlaid on the regular economic cycle.
This is a key point. While there may be, from time to time, differences about how to reach these common goals -- indeed, it would be amazing if there were not -- there is no disagreement about the goals. The history of business cycles has repeatedly taught us that the greatest risk to an expansion comes from failing to prevent an overheated economy.