Monday, November 17, 2008

Getting our terms straight.

Unc's post on how the economy around him seemed okie-dokey reminded me of this handy set of definitions of common economic terms:
Downturn: You hear that people have lost their jobs.

Recession: Someone you know has lost their job.

Depression: You have lost your job.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

with the last having a double edge since being jobless is a near-certain recipe for the medical sort of "depression."

Les Jones said...

Then there's the Ronald Reagan version: “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”

Anonymous said...

With apologies to Les Jones, "A recession is when your neightbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Barack Obama loses his. ;).

Anonymous said...

a downturn happens if a democrap is in office. The other two only happen when repulicans are in office.
Just check your local papers and you will see that I am correct.