MONEY MATTERS

After all these months, people start to think it is time for the recession to end. The very thought that the recession is to end, begins to renew confidence in the minds of people and they start spending again. This in turn, generates visible signs of recovery. Uttering the word recession does not risk damaging confidence. Beyond fiscal stimulus and government bailouts, the economic recovery that appears under way may be based on little more than self-fulfilling prophecy.
As we all know, recessions generally last no more than a couple of years. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the current recession began in December 2007. So it is nearly two years old. According to the standard schedule, we are due for recovery.
Years ago, a normal downturn in the business cycle was called, Depression. Recession, a kinder, gentler term, began to be used around the time of 1937-38 contraction. The Chicago Daily Tribune offered a wry definition of a recession, calling it “a new word for depression, coined by those who do not like to admit that we are still in one.”
There is still a nagging doubt afloat that the current event is really just another example in that long sequence of recessions.

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