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The natural state of an economy is to grow. We work more, we earn more, we spend more and we produce more. Occasionally, however, economies stall and go into recession . . . and, for a stretch, perhaps a few months, everything goes into retreat. Wages, spending and output shrink. That's what appears to be happening to the mighty U.S. economy. Thankfully, recessions are a rare and brief event in this country.

Since the Second World War, the U.S. has experienced just ten recessions, lasting an average of ten months each. Amid the financial gyrations of the past few weeks, it's comforting to know that the foundation of the next growth phase is already being laid. And it could come from the most unlikely of places: the dirty business of manufacturing, and trade.

You can thank the remarkable resilience of the American economy, the largest, most diverse and open economy on the planet. It isn't easy to keep the U.S. down for long. The same, often reckless, dynamism that causes this country to repetitively binge - on real estate, technology stocks or some other bauble du jour - is precisely what will pull the economy out the other side.

It's far too early to write an obituary for the U.S. economy. Just remember: This isn't Japan, which suffered three recessions during its "lost decade" of the 1990s.

Japan's economy was red-hot. And no one thought the boom would ever end. The price of everything from stocks and real estate to a cup of coffee was badly out of whack. So much so, that by 1990 the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo was estimated to be worth more than the entire continental U.S.