It also sucks for those on the wrong side of the cycle. I reached adulthood right at the start of a bust, worked my ass off but accumulated random debt (car died, cancer, etc). The good times came and I could finally catch up! Worked my ass off finally paid off all my debts, had just started to save up some money - and the economy crashed again. It’s not even that I get good times alternating with bad times; I get bad times alternating with really bad times, simply because of the year I reached adulthood :(