The Volcker Purgative

One would expect Paul Volcker, hawk among hawks, to say something like this (in a recent interview):

I think this period we’re going through is kind of a curative process; it’s a purgative. There is something to the old view that you have to have a recession once in a while to deal with the excesses of a boom. And I think we had excesses in this boom, for sure, and we’ve got a really difficult recession. You want to relieve the sharp edges, without any question, but I don’t think it’s been possible to pump it up so there’s no recession at all.

I suspect many in the corridors of power (at the Fed for example) feel the same way but can't say it in such a straightforward manner. It wouldn't be too politically astute to say something like: "You know what? All those job losses, all the financial suffering are actually good for the economy...in the long run."