Does anybody have a cunning plan?

What if anything can a government do to avoid an economic recession? Especially when central bankers appear hamstrung by the risk of stagflation and the financial system is incredibly fragile. The community pages of the New York Times asked readers for suggestions! Their contributions will appear here.

One or two of the respondents have asserted that a recession has cathartic properties and that we should allow the downturn to take its course. I do have some sympathy for that view - a recession can be a useful deflator of over-inflated egos and expectations built up during a money for nothing financial bubble.

Others place their faith in using fiscal policy in a very Keynesian manner to stabilise demand and jobs. Here are a couple I liked

“Invest billions of dollars to develop an interstate passenger rail system similar to the interstate highway system. This would do much to create jobs, stimulate growth in the economy and reduce our dependence on oil.”

“The essential problem with the economy has its roots in excessive dependence on imported energy resources and on laxity in borrowing standards. Until those basic flaws are remedied there can be no meaningful or lasting improvement in the economy.”

So what about the UK economy - if Brown doesn’t really have a plan ... can we create one?

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