ElkinFencer10 wrote:Recovery from a recession/depression is defined by a positive GDP growth. For the past couple years, America's GDP has grown at roughly 3%, maybe a little less, meaning that we are technically in the recovery part of the business cycle. Now granted, that growth is less than normal post-recovery growth, and none of that takes salary increase or inflation into account. Technically, though the economy is recovering because GDP is rising. That was the basis for my statement.
I do recall that being the definition... which, IMO, is a false definition. Was that always the definition of "recession/depression"?
I don't know when that definition was adopted (they didn't cover that in the two semester of economics I've had to take for my license to teach social studies), but I know that it's the current definition.
Apparently they taught you the "newspaper definition", which... is retarded I think.
From About.com:
Recession: The Newspaper Definition
The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters.
This definition is unpopular with most economists for two main reasons. First, this definition does not take into consideration changes in other variables. For example this definition ignores any changes in the unemployment rate or consumer confidence. Second, by using quarterly data this definition makes it difficult to pinpoint when a recession begins or ends. This means that a recession that lasts ten months or less may go undetected.
The "BCDC Definition"
The Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) provides a better way to find out if there is a recession is taking place. This committee determines the amount of business activity in the economy by looking at things like employment, industrial production, real income and wholesale-retail sales. They define a recession as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity bottoms out. When the business activity starts to rise again it is called an expansionary period. By this definition, the average recession lasts about a year.
This made me roll my eyes, as the definition of "depression" goes right back to the GDP definition.
So how can we tell the difference between a recession and a depression? 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.
Breetai wrote:Apparently they taught you the "newspaper definition", which... is retarded I think.
From About.com:
Recession: The Newspaper Definition
The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters.
This definition is unpopular with most economists for two main reasons. First, this definition does not take into consideration changes in other variables. For example this definition ignores any changes in the unemployment rate or consumer confidence. Second, by using quarterly data this definition makes it difficult to pinpoint when a recession begins or ends. This means that a recession that lasts ten months or less may go undetected.
The "BCDC Definition"
The Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) provides a better way to find out if there is a recession is taking place. This committee determines the amount of business activity in the economy by looking at things like employment, industrial production, real income and wholesale-retail sales. They define a recession as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity bottoms out. When the business activity starts to rise again it is called an expansionary period. By this definition, the average recession lasts about a year.
This made me roll my eyes, as the definition of "depression" goes right back to the GDP definition.
So how can we tell the difference between a recession and a depression? 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.
Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, I took the basic macroeconomics and microeconomics courses - just enough so that I can teach high school Civics & Economics (and at least in North Carolina, a MAXIMUM of 25% of that end of course exam is economics). Thanks for going more in depth on that.
Yeah, when gov'ts send memos to mainstream media (Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc.) about things, they often add a spin. When they saw we are coming out of recession and in recovery, they are definitely using the "newspaper" definition... which is a poor description of reality. In fact, it isn't reality.
They are also apt to actually change definitions to suit their needs. I'm too lazy to go over examples, but the internet is at your fingertips!
Moral of the story, don't trust the gov't. They look out for their interests, which might not be your interests.
It's the end of $60 games is what it is. The average person including myself have a problem playing that much. There are too many cheap good games for available. Next Gen they better have a lower cost or else they wont survive.
