Diffen › Economics In economics, the words recession and depression are used to refer to economic downturns. One could say that while a recession refers to the economy "falling down," a depression is a matter of "not being able to get up."
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Depression
Infrequent (approximately once in a generation). 3 notable depressions Great Depression in 1930s, Long Depression from 1870s-1890s, panic of 1837. No official definition. A severe recession with a 10% decline in GDP is usually called a depression.
Recession
Frequent. The National Bureau of Economic Research has identified 10 recessions. (http://bit.ly/acM3VJ)
Definition:
An economic contraction when GDP declines for two consecutive quarters is usually called a recession.
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Recession
Depression
US Recession Economics GDP
Contents
1 Difference between definition of recession and depression 1.1 Definition of Recession 1.2 Definition of Depression 2 Characteristics of a Recession vs. Depression 3 Related Articles 4 References
Difference between definition of recession and depression
Definition of Recession
A recession is a contraction phase of the business cycle. The U.S. based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession more broadly as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." American newspapers often quote the rule of thumb that a recession occurs when real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is negative for two or more consecutive quarters. This measure fails to register several official (NBER defined) US recessions.
Definition of Depression
A depression refers to a sustained downturn in one or more national economies. It is more severe than a recession (which is seen as a normal downturn in the business
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession (retrieved on October 12, 2008) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_(economics) (retrieved on October 12, 2008) The Economist - Diagnosing Depression Comments: Depression vs Recession