To add to this. In 2008, I had a small but genuine fear that society itself would start collapsing. You'd see headlines about bankrupt municipalities turning off their 911 service because they ran out of cash. There were genuine bank runs on major consumer banks where grandmas kept their checking accounts. Things felt close to the brink.

A lot of people forget that, because the recovery turned on so quickly in 2009. But nobody knew things would be so easy in the thick of November 2008.