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The Great Recession triggered by the u.s. subprime crisis and its consequences give rise to new questions which lead us to the problem of stagnation and economic decline. Therefore it is useful to revisit the analysis proposed by Joseph Schumpeter about the economic situation of the 1930s and 1940s. Is it for him a Kondratiev depression analogous to that of the period 1873-1897? Or are we dealing with the coming of a secular stagnation, as it is supported by Alvin H. Hansen? This study analyses the criticisms by Schumpeter of the arguments defended by Hansen. It gives also the opportunity to remind the Schumpeterian decline thesis, based on the degeneration of the capitalist order.Classification JEL : B 15, B 19, O 43