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Topic: Legislation by any other party,,,,,
no photo
Sun 04/29/12 03:47 PM





from: http://economics.about.com/cs/businesscycles/a/depressions_2.htm


A good rule of thumb for determining the difference between a recession and a depression is to look at the changes in GNP. A depression is any economic downturn where real GDP declines by more than 10 percent. A recession is an economic downturn that is less severe.
By this yardstick, the last depression in the United States was from May 1937 to June 1938, where real GDP declined by 18.2 percent. If we use this method then the Great Depression of the 1930s can be seen as two separate events: an incredibly severe depression lasting from August 1929 to March 1933 where real GDP declined by almost 33 percent, a period of recovery, then another less severe depression of 1937-38. The United States hasn’t had anything even close to a depression in the post-war period. The worst recession in the last 60 years was from November 1973 to March 1975, where real GDP fell by 4.9 percent. Countries such as Finland and Indonesia have suffered depressions in recent memory using this definition.


a chart of GDP growth since 2008 is here

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth

easy to see, nowhere near a 10percent decline in GDP with the exception of the 8.9 decline we saw right before OBAMA took office,,,



GDP is not the only measure used to determine a depression Harmony.....Also note how some economists define a depression...

Considered, by some economists, a rare and extreme form of recession, a depression is characterized by its length, by abnormally large increases in unemployment, falls in the availability of credit— often due to some kind of banking or financial crisis, shrinking output—as buyers dry up and suppliers cut back on production, and investment, large number of bankruptcies—including sovereign debt defaults, significantly reduced amounts of trade and commerce—especially international, as well as highly volatile relative currency value fluctuations—most often due to devaluations. Price deflation, financial crises and bank failures are also common elements of a depression that are not normally a part of a recession.


There is no agreed definition of the term depression, though some have been proposed. In the United States the National Bureau of Economic Research determines contractions and expansions in the business cycle, but does not declare depressions.[1] Generally, periods labeled depressions are marked by a substantial and sustained shortfall of the ability to purchase goods relative to the amount that could be produced using current resources and technology (potential output).[2] Another proposed definition of depression includes two general rules: (1) a decline in real GDP exceeding 10%, or (2) a recession lasting 2 or more years.


there are broad adjectives here and no real 'measure'

how is 'recession' being defined here?


For the record, I'm calling it a depression, I'm calling it not over, and I'm making these calls based on my 63 years of life experience...I'm sick and tired of all the window dressing and creative statistics used to placate the public and beef up current administrations poll ratings...For my money, Obama is a crappy president...The economy is in terrible shape and your guy contributed his fair share to making a bad problem worse...You champion him and I don't and never will.....

willing2's photo
Sun 04/29/12 03:50 PM

For the record, I'm calling it a depression, I'm calling it not over, and I'm making these calls based on my 63 years of life experience...I'm sick and tired of all the window dressing and creative statistics used to placate the public and beef up current administrations poll ratings...For my money, Obama is a crappy president...The economy is in terrible shape and your guy contributed his fair share to making a bad problem worse...You champion him and I don't and never will.....


flowerforyou
drinker drinker drinker drinker drinker drinker drinker drinker drinker drinker smokin

msharmony's photo
Sun 04/29/12 03:55 PM
well, people can check the charts out themself to see the difference

obviously, its everyones perogative (including mine) to have their personal opinions and feelings about the President,,,

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