An important point from Noah Smith (no relation) — recessions accompanied by lower output and lower prices, as is currently the case, are invariably due to shortfalls in aggregate demand:
So it seems that the stories that conservatives tell about the recession - “policy uncertainty,” “recalculation,” or even a “negative shock to financial technology” - are not true. The stories that everyone else tells about the recession - “a flight to quality,” “increased demand for safe assets,” etc. - look much more like what basic introductory macroeconomics would predict.
