Recession vs Depression: What’s the Difference? Definition, Factors, Length and More

Reviewing bank statements or trying tools such as budget apps and expense trackers can help you understand your cash flow. Khalfani-Cox says that a depression is also “marked by a lack of investments by individuals and institutions.” She adds that many people stop buying assets, such as stocks and houses. As a result, companies reduce production or shut down manufacturing facilities, with fewer exports. Although people believe there’s more than one way to define a recession, the official definition in the U.S. comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Thanks to these problems in the U.S economy, more and more people are worried about the possibility of a recession—or even a depression. That said, unemployment has settled back to pre-Covid levels, hovering at approximately 3.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is below the unemployment rate right before the Great Recession.

The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act—also known as the Dodd-Frank Act— was instituted in 2010. Dodd-Frank reforms affected the entire U.S. financial system, including banks, investment firms and insurance companies. The goal was to make the financial system stronger and less likely to fail by improving transparency and accountability.

1. Harvard University economist Robert Barro defines it as a decline in per-person economic output or consumption of more than 10%.
2. During a recession, Khalfani-Cox says many people may buy less expensive houses or invest less than they had planned.
3. SmartAsset does not review the ongoing performance of any RIA/IAR, participate in the management of any user’s account by an RIA/IAR or provide advice regarding specific investments.
4. This is likely because jobs were so hard to come by, and workers eventually decided lower pay was better than no pay at all.
5. Depressions are generated by the same factors that cause a recession.

There is no official definition for a depression, even though some have been proposed. In the United States the National Bureau of Economic Research determines contractions https://bigbostrade.com/ and expansions in the business cycle, but does not declare depressions. A GDP decline of such magnitude has not happened in the United States since the 1930s.

But when you’re having a major depressive episode, the sadness or feelings of emptiness can last for weeks. People with depression often lose their ability to feel any joy or happiness. Depression is a debilitating mood disorder that goes beyond simply feeling sad.

Some of them cause deep declines in the economy and lead to widespread unemployment, while others are so mild that most regular people barely notice them. They look at many different indicators besides GDP, including gross domestic income, unemployment, manufacturing, and retail sales. All of these tend to decline significantly during recessions.

It does not ensure positive performance, nor does it protect against loss. Acorns clients may not experience compound returns and investment results will vary based on market volatility and fluctuating prices. While recessions are usually counted in months, a depression can last for years. This dark economic period is the only “depression” the U.S. has experienced. Here are some more figures to drive home the difference in scale and frequency between recession and depression. Since the 1850s, the NBER has determined there have been 33 recessions in the US alone.

What happens in a depression?

People going through a major depressive episode often feel as if they’ve been transported to a hellish place. Because clinical depression increases negative affect and reduces positive affect, it changes how someone sees the world. Through a depressed person’s eyes, their negative affectivity can make everything seem hopeless and bleak. As for the stock market, 1932 saw the Dow Jones fall a whopping 89% below its highest point. Having lived through the Great Recession, it’s hard to imagine how much worse it must have been during the Depression. So, what’s the difference between a recession and a depression?

Racial factors, and how recessions can feel like depressions

The stock market would drop by 50%, and it would take decades, not months, to recover. A broader interpretation of recession is a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real incomes, and other indicators. Depressions also produce structural distortions in the economy and have severe social and psychological repercussions. Though it sounds dire, Shikaki explained that economic recessions are actually a normal part of the business cycle in most cases. In fact, since 1900, we’ve experienced a recession about every four years, on average. Since World War II, the average recession has lasted 11 months, and that number is skewed longer by the Great Recession, which lasted 18 months.

In other words, if the NBER says we’re in a recession or a depression, we’re probably in one. Regardless of the economic times, it’s important to save and invest your money to secure your financial future. As an example, the Great Depression is the longest economic recession in modern history, lasting from 1929 to 1941. This prolonged economic downturn caused mass unemployment and homelessness.

Recessions and depressions both mark economic downturns, but they aren’t exactly the same. Recessions are more common and represent significant declines in economic activity. A depression is an extreme recession that lasts longer and is accompanied by day trading patterns severe economic contraction. Neither are great for the economy, but no recession or depression has lasted forever. There isn’t a clear definition, but a depression is typically seen as an extreme recession that lasts longer and causes more damage.

Aspects of the Economic Cycle – Revision Presentation

These situations create a downward spiral of unemployment, loan defaults, and bankruptcies. The devastation of a depression is so great that the effects of the Great Depression lasted for decades after it ended. Gross domestic product (GDP) contracts for at least a few months in a recession.

In all cases, something occurs to interrupt the economy’s recovery from the first recession. This might be a separate crisis entirely or a crisis that repeats itself — such as a global pandemic that produces wave after wave of outbreaks. Stocks are a piece of ownership in a company, so the stock market is a vote of confidence in the future of these companies. The inability or reduced ability to feel pleasure and joy in life is a telltale sign of depression and one of its most common symptoms. In people with clinical depression, activities that once brought happiness are no longer joyful.

People with clinical depression, or major depressive disorder (MDD), often lose their ability to experience pleasure. The inability or reduced ability to feel joy is a key symptom of depression. We live in a time of great economic uncertainty and some analysts fear that what is already an inevitable recession arising from the pandemic might turn into a full-blown economic depression for some countries or regions. In this short video, we explain the key differences between recession and depression. Although individual countries have witnessed varied forms of depressions in the last few decades, including Japan, Argentina and Greece, the last global depression was the Great Depression of the 1930s. During its height, production in the U.S. fell 47% and the GDP dropped 30%.

And though the Great Depression lasted about 10 years, from 1929 to 1939, its impact on economic structures and policy can still be seen today. It is much more severe than a typical recession, which is considered a normal part of the business cycle. But recessions can vary greatly in length and severity.

To combat the decline, the Federal Reserve may step in and change interest rates to jumpstart markets again by infusing them with cash. A recession happens when the economy’s inflation-adjusted GDP has declined for two or more consecutive quarters. Although this is the generally accepted definition, any serious downturn in the economy of more than a few months counts as a recession.