6. Except when career politicians interfere; then a recession becomes an excuse to steal wealth and power from the many and concentrate it into the hands of the few.
That is not stealing. It is gambling, with interest rates being the balancing factor.
What fools do is to borrow from the future by mortgaging the past to consume in the present, hoping that inflation will make the borrower richer. When that does not happen, and the interest rate is higher than the inflation rate, the lender is the winner. And that is the way it should be, so that saving now will make one richer in the future, not poorer.
The whole criminal scheme of the government forcing banks to lend at sub-prime interest rates encouraged the real estate bubble, giving squatters preference over investors until the bubble burst. The squatters just walked away without paying their debts.
IMHO. But I'm not much of a financial manager. All I know is that the property I bought for $100K in 1984 dollars before subprime rates is now worth about $400K 21 years later, I own it, live in half of it, and the other half produces $13K per year income.