I’m not the only one saying this.

A quick footnote to my “Don’t Panic!” post earlier today. I was reading the NYTimes online and stumbled upon an article by Alex Berenson titled “Those With a Sense of History May Find It’s Time to Invest.”

Not only does he refer to the tech stock bubble burst of 2000-2001 (as I do), but he claims:

Now investors have again convinced themselves that this time is different, that the credit crisis will push economies worldwide into the deepest recession since the Depression. Fear runs even deeper today than greed did a decade ago.

But in their panic, investors are ignoring 60 years of history. Since the Depression, governments have become far more aggressive about intervening when credit markets seize up or economies struggle. And those interventions have generally succeeded. The recessions since World War II, while hardly easy, have been far less painful than the Depression.

Read the article. It cites experts:

“I think in years to come — I wouldn’t say months to come — we will perceive this as being a great value-buying opportunity,” said David P. Stowell, a finance professor at Northwestern and a former managing director at JPMorgan Chase. “Two and three years from now, it will seem very smart.”

Don’t panic. It might just be the time to go bargain hunting on Wall Street.