What we want this time is good growth in output and employment, with a difference -- we want it to last a lot longer. The six-and-a-half years that the previous two economic expansions lasted was not good enough. Although progress was made in reducing unemployment -- particularly in the second one -- it was all lost in the ensuing recession.
This time around we must make sure we have a much longer expansion, reducing the likelihood and severity of any future slowdown as much as possible. I do not know how that will be possible, but the surest way of ameliorating the business cycle in this way is to avoid the imbalances occurring during the later stages of the expansion.