Each day brings new numbers that reveal the possibility of a slowing economy. Nobody really knows if there is actual deterioration going on out there -- or if a macro slide is in the offing. But the word on the street is that recession is coming, that recession is inevitable. It's especially confusing to executives and entrepreneurs because business seems to be holding up pretty well in the face of this crumbling and off-putting market psychology. So, while we're waiting to find out if a downturn will drown us, I thought I'd take stock. Without revealing my age (I'm still a vigorous and engaged CEO), I realized that this could be the fifth or sixth recession I've experienced in my working lifetime; it depends on whether we want to put an asterisk next to the Internet implosion of