The same thing that happened to the mortgage industry can happen to the oil industry. Again. Remember when gas dropped to $1.00 a gallon? Bubbles burst. When demand drops due to high prices, and inflation isn't held back, you have "stagflation" like we have now. If the Fed does their job of keeping the interest rates in check, the recession will be short lived, as what happened when Bush Sr. left office and Clinton took over.
A quick geo-political observation: Bin Laden may be crazy, but he's not stupid. We drove the Soviets into financial implosion with their war in Afganistan. (With Bin Ladens help). Now we have a war where he's trying to do the same thing to us to us. The hidden costs of this war have helped to produce a record deficit, which can lead to a financial depression if not kept in check.
JMHO