What if they threw a recession and no one showed up?

From Recession? Not So Fast, Say Some - WSJ.com:

“A couple months ago it seemed like we were on the abyss,” said Jay Bryson, global economist with Wachovia Corp., referring to the seizing up of credit markets and the collapse of Bear Stearns. “Things have changed….The numbers we’ve seen recently haven’t been as bad as we were led to believe just a few months ago.”