SINCE 9/11, A PALL of pessimism covered the U.S. Polls show that between 60 and 85 percent of Americans have believed that the U.S. is in a recession or would go into one the following year. But from September 2001 through August 2008, those polls were wrong. Nonetheless, the failure of Lehman Brothers, with its ripple effect on money market accounts and confidence in the U.S. banking system, finally made this prognostication a reality. Rather than a prolonged recession, however, or one that is worsening, we’re seeing a temporary “V”-shaped recession caused by a sharp, fear-driven slowdown in the turnover...