文章基本信息

标题：What Is a Recession?
本地全文：下载
作者：Stijn Claessens ; M. Ayhan Kose
期刊名称：Finances & Développement
印刷版ISSN：0430-473X
电子版ISSN：0430-473X
出版年度：2009
卷号：46
期号：1
出版社：International Monetary Fund
摘要：F OR more than a year, barely a day has passed that we have not heard dire economic news about the United States, Europe, or Japan. Unemployment has been rising, company proﬁ ts have been falling, ﬁ nancial markets have been tumbling, and the housing sector has been collapsing. Is there a single word to describe these develop- ments? Yes: “recession.” The ongoing global financial crisis has been accompanied by recessions in many countries. This pattern is consistent with the historical record. Synchronized recessions have occurred in advanced economies several times in the past four decades—the mid-70s, early 80s, early 90s, and early 2000s. Because the United States is the world’s largest econ- omy and has strong trade and financial linkages with many other economies, most of these globally synchronized reces- sion episodes also coincide with U.S. recessions. Although U.S. recessions have become milder over time, the current recession is likely to change this trend. Already 16 months old—with sharp declines in consumption and investment—it could become one of the longest and deepest recessions since the Great Depression of the 1930s.