If there's one thing we can't avoid these days, it's bad news about the economy. As a financial planner, it's all anyone wants to talk to me about. Of course, when everything is going well, everyone wants to talk about how well they're doing. I guess it's part of my job. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get away from the negative news. Headlines scream "high gas prices," "high unemployment,"� "a weak dollar"� or the R-word: "recession."� No one wants any of that, of course. As I write this, we are not officially in a "recession,"� but it sure feels like one. Recessions aren't all bad news. In fact, here are five ways a recession can actually be a good thing, according to MSN: