In a recent Wall Street Journal interview with Henry Kravis and George Roberts of the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts, the two titans of investment discussed with WSJ writer Peter Lattmann about the history of economic cycles, and why the current climate is now during the Great Recession.

George Roberts said that KKR approaches deal with attitude of “let’s go and find the best company in our nine different industry groups that we’d like to own” rather than wait around to see what companies are for sale. KKR identifies good strong companies, and have built capital structures around good businesses. George Roberts strives to acquire businesses bought with cheap debt and little or no covenants.

When Peter Lattmann asked Henry Kravis is all this debt acquisitions was merely “staving off disaster,” Henry Kravis answered that “No. As long as the markets stay open you’ll be refinancing these companies. Henry Kravis advised that with open markets, you shouldn’t panic. As he put it, “It’s not as though all of sudden 2015 arrives and $1 trillion comes due and you have to line up at the window and pay it.” Henry Kravis is also amazed by how much spreads have come down, and that people are are willing to take risks because they need the return. The demand has opened up globally, according to Henry Kravis.

Peter Lattmann brought up the case of the KKR brand KFN, a debt investment vehicle. George Roberts said that when the credit markets “imploded,” KKR stood by KFN with a $100 million credit line. KKR went on to reengineer that whole business and the portfolio of new investments. Speaking of KKR’s resolute reaction to the economic crisis, George Roberts said, “I think the world will eventually judge people on what they do when things are awful not what they do when things are great.”

Henry Kravis answered Peter Lattman’s question of why KKR did not make any banking investments, as they had during the last banking crisis of the early 1990s. He explained the two economic downturns were dramatically different. “First, there was unprecedented and massive government intervention in the banking sector…There are also tougher regulatory requirements for private equity that mean only the smallest and weakest banks were available to us.”

When Peter Lattmann asked about Henry Kravis and George Roberts about “their least proud moments,” George Roberts mentioned Regal Cinemas, while Henry Kravis said that “we’re in a higher-risk, higher-return business…I wish we didn’t own the businesses that failed. But that’s not our business. If that were our business, we’d buy Treasurys.”