Posted on 07/29/2009 2:11:00 PM PDT by mainestategop
Sure you are. You are arguing that WWII ended the depression and that it did so because of war production. Aren't you?
In that case the broken window fallacy argument holds. War materials production doesn't expand the economy. Only consumer goods production does.
Pick up any book on basic economics and you'll find that a major factor, if not the #1 factor, that defines an economic downturn, as in a depression or a recession, is high unemployment rates.
No. Recession is defined as a lack of growth in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters. Unemployment may or may not be present and is usually referred to only as an indicator. In fact historically recessions are usually well over before unemployment begins to abate.
You can postulate to your hearts content. So, call it what you like --- unintended consequences, broken windows fallacy, or whatever. I don't care. Now, stop being obtuse.
The definition of a recession (or a depression) isn't embedded in concrete. There are many opinions over what aspects should be or shouldn't be included. Just Goggle, "define:economic recession" and see what you get.
~ In economics, a recession is a general slowdown in economic activity over a sustained period of time, or a business cycle contraction. ...
~ A slowdown in economic activity marked by less consumer spending and often also by higher unemployment.
~ A temporary slow-down in economic growth
~ A decline in economic activity (GDP) that persists for at least two quarters...
On top of that, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) at the forefront of the US economy since 1920, gives a more broad definition.
A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. A recession begins just after the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends as the economy reaches its trough. Between trough and peak, the economy is in an expansion. Expansion is the normal state of the economy; most recessions are brief and they have been rare in recent decades. Link
oops, Google, not “Goggle”.
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