Is this spin or accurate?

Since my detailed knowledge of economics is small, I’m wondering if this SF Chronicle article that tries to put this endless recession into an ordinary pattern, rather than treating it as an American anomaly, is spin or accurate?  All I know is that we bounced back faced under Reagan, and we bounced back fast under Bush.  Beyond that, though, I cannot compare what we bounced back from, nor do I know whether those bounces were different in some way.

Help, please?