"Clearly a downturn is never good generically, it’s a bad thing."
On the contrary. It's like working off the alcohol after a night on the tiles. The economy readjusts after the heady party days of easy credit, serial malinvestments and bubble blowing. People look for good investment schemes, unsustainable businesses get folded and prices readjust. Of course, like a host fearing that hung over guests will turn sour, government does everything it can to keep the blood alcohol high and the cocaine bowls filled by doing the Keynesian song & dance: print money, burn resources and keep giving out easy credit. Welcome to the Great Recession.