What Is the Difference Between”Recession” and “depression” in Regards to Our Economic Climate at Present?

by gwilmore

Question by Rabbit09: What is the difference between”Recession” and “depression” in regards to our economic climate at present?
Just wondering what the difference is with “depression” and “Recession”
in regards to today’s failing economy?

Best answer:

Answer by Quicken Loans
That’s a great question. At one time in our nation’s history (before the Great Depression of the 1930s), any downturn in the economy was referred to as a “depression.” But because of the severity of that particular depression, a new term was coined to indicate economic downturns that were less serious.

To measure economic downturns, most economic experts now look to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product – an indicator of a country’s economy that measure the value of the goods and services that country produces). If a country’s GDP declines by over 10%, then there is officially a depression. A recession is any downturn that is less extreme.

Using this measure, the Great Depression of the 1930s was actually two events: an extreme depression that occurred between 1929 and 1933, where real GDP declined by almost 33%, and then a period of recovery before the less severe depression of 1937-38 (where US GDP declined by over 18%).

The US hasn’t experienced any depressions since the ones we had in the 30s. The most intense downturn since the Great Depression was a recession in 1973-75, where real GDP fell by nearly 5%.

Because one must evaluate the past to determine the loss of GDP, no one can be sure yet what the extent of our current economic downturn will be. Some experts are saying that when all is said and done, we will have seen a decline of 5%, but we will only be able to see this clearly when the economy begins to grow again.

What do you think? Answer below!

Music and the Brain: Depression and Creativity Symposium – Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, convened a discussion of the effects of depression on creativity. Joining Jamison were two distinguished colleagues from the fields of neurology and neuropsychiatry, Dr. Terence Ketter and Dr. Peter Whybrow. The Music and the Brain series is co-sponsored by the Library’s Music Division and Science, Technology and Business Division, in cooperation with the Dana Foundation. The “Depression and Creativity” symposium marks the bicentennial of the birth of German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), who died after a severe depression following the death of his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, also a gifted composer. One of the nation’s most influential writers on creativity and the mind, Kay Redfield Jamison is a noted authority on bipolar disorder. She is the co-author of the standard medical text on manic-depressive illness and author of “Touched with Fire,” “An Unquiet Mind,” “Night Falls Fast” and “Exuberance: The Vital Emotion.” Dr. Terence Ketter is known for extensive clinical work with exceptionally creative individuals and a strong interest in the relationship of creativity and madness. He is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chief of the Bipolar Disorders Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Peter Whybrow, an authority on depression and manic …