Tale of Two Timeframes

How severe has this recession been? Severe. But there have been more severe events in the US economy in the last 100 years and the country didn't fall apart. Let's look at two graphs.

First, industrial production for the last 10 years:

Wow! That's a sharp reversal! And we have only had a bounce so far. At this rate, it will take the next decade to get back to where we were. And now for the last 100+ years:

Notice the volatile movements in the 30's and 40's. Understandable. But more subtly, notice the rate of change is declining. Ever so slightly, but it appears to have peaked in the early 70's. Also, notice the prevalence of recessions in the 10's and 20's. It seems to be almost half of the time the economy was in recession! Some will say that the Fed and government have learned and are able to smooth out the economic cycle. Others might say that the economy was a self-correcting system back then, with negative feedback creating a more stable economy. Which one you believe has vastly different implications for the future. Of course, this graph may reflect nothing more than inflation. Which could be ominous if this slowing in industrial production continues.