I think it’s easier to say those things in hindsight. Obviously, if someone created good times, they must’ve been strong men. If the times are getting worse, it must be because whoever is in power is weak.

I’m more inclined to say that when times are harder, it becomes easier for fortunes to shift, and a lot of the regulations that would otherwise stifle growth are lifted (either because nobody cares, or because the law makes it so).