To Avoid Depression, Let's Go On ... Vacation?!

This recent article from The Big Money, Slate's economics and money blog, outlines a seemingly French approach to combating the economic crisis: shorter work weeks.

The notion of the forced furlough, which could actually fuel some discretionary spending, I imagine, is an interesting one.

But would we ever go back to work full-time? And would the suggested moves inspire the type of creativity and reorganization that, I think, is one of the hallmarks of pressure on a given business?

In other words - and I have been meaning to flesh this out more and maybe will soon - isn't one of the characteristics of the "bubbles" that burst when we fall into recession that they somehow stopped the natural cycle of businesses beginning and dying? I.e., it seemed as if businesses could just pop up everywhere and never go away? So then, it seems like one of the functions of a recession is to weed out week business, to push forward economic Darwinism (as it were). Does this approach, in the name of saving people their jobs and making the crash feel a little more like a landing, just continue to suspend the realities of the business cycle?