What Is A Recession?

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I have been hearing a lot about a recession lately. I have a pretty good idea what a recession is, or I thought I did. I was just thinking when I realized that I do not know exactly what the defination of recession is. Now let me explain. In my mind, we are already in a recession. Our county is already in so much debt that our we may never get out. People are losing their jobs. This leads to them loosing their homes as well. Gasoline is so expensive that it is cutting into everyones budget. The "middle class" of yesterday is now in the upper low class. When families do not have the money to pay their normal bills, then a depression is upon us. That is what I thought a recession was. In reality, the economists cannot agree on the definition of a recession. It seems that if you ask 50 economists what the definition of a recession is, you would get 50 different answers. According to Mike Moffatt, there is an old joke among economists that goes like this: A recession is when your neighbor loses his job A depression is when you lose your job. So how do you explain what a recession is? How do you explain what a depression is?