he deepest slump since World War II has already become known as the “Great Recession,” but you offer your own label for it in your main leader (“The Great Stabilization,” December 19, 2009). True, unprecedented government intervention has led to stabilization, but, as you go on to show yourself, the resulting stability is also very frail. A sustainable recovery is still a dream, which can easily be shattered by all manner of mishaps in the world economy. I would thus stick to the Great Recession as an appropriate label for the mess the world is still in. It is paradoxical, as it should be. On the one hand, it harks back to the 1930s; on the other, it offers a glimmer of hope. But, as recent scares surrounding Dubai and Greece have amply shown, it is too early to hope for anything beyond that glimmer. The Great Stabilization label is too hopeful by half.