September 15, 2011

The Profound Recession

When the 2008 housing bubble burst we started calling the economic fallout a ‘recession’. We used the term recession rather than depression because the last time we were in a big depression there were guys jumping out of windows and widespread woe and want in this country. We didn’t want to conjure a similar outcome with a slip of the tongue so we insisted that this time it was merely going to be a recession.


Well we are two years into this recession with things looking grimmer than ever. I just read an NPR article stating that we might be heading into a profound recession. Is there any economical distinction between a profound recession and a great depression? It makes me wonder if the next time our global economy is in the dumps that we will hesitate to call it a recession and revert back to the comfort of a great depression.


(I just realized that diction actually interested me for once)

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