I've watched this thread for a while with interest and wonder why so many think one's approach to training has so much to do with the economy. Let me explain that a bit.
The logic seems to be that the economy is worsening, so there will be fewer jobs, so wannabes should wait until it is better to increase the chance that they'll get one. It's not bad reasoning, but there is a flaw in this logic when in a good job market. Even in a booming market if there is only a 10% chance that one won't get a job easily, the wise wannabe will develop a plan to get him through even if he's in that 10%.
I do think it's wise to try to time the market well and this is clearly a volatile and uncertain time. Here are the guidelines I would suggest should be used regardless of whether it's a boom or a bust economy:
1. Use as little debt as possible
2. Raise as much of the money needed upfront as humanly possible so you can focus on continuity of training to avoid fading skills. One sensible exception would be if you are modular and take a break before the IR and MCC to wait for an economic upturn.
3. Make sure you can meet all financial obligations and future contingencies (funding an SSTR or FI rating for example) based on what you are capable of earning today.
4. Contingency budget planning ideally should cover a) living expenses, b) loan repayments, c) rating renewals, d) 50 hours flying per year for currency and e) enough to make the payment on an additional loan for an SSTR.
If you can't fund an SSTR or you or unwilling to because of principles, then the other contingency items become even more important because your wait might be even longer.
It goes without saying that c and d are taken care of if you become an FI, but doing so adds the contingency requirement of funding the FI course. FIs are less likely in the early years to be able to afford a, b and e though, so the admonition of using less debt is more important if FI is your contingency plan from the outset.
The most obvious way to reduce the debt load is to reduce the total cost by going modular. There is a hidden saving here for those with an FI contingency. Modular fATPL training almost always ends the wannabe up with 250 hours or more. Integrated fATPL courses often end the wannabe up with about 220-230 hours, so they need to fund hour building to 250 hours before they can start an FI course.
There is a flaw in using an FI rating as a contingency in a bust economy though in that there might be plenty of recently redundant airline pilots beating a path to the FTOs to instruct, while those very FTOs experience a drop off in business.
In summary, investing in flight training is always risky and the risk management techniques to be used have very little to do with the state of the economy. The state of the economy should therefore primarily only inform when you start or if going modular, when you finish. Poor contingency planning in boom times probably accounts for at least half of the whinging posts on Pprune from unemployed shiny new fATPL holders.