Principle of Macroeconomics

3710 Words15 Pages
THE CONCEPTS, EFFECTS AND IMPLICATIONS OF RECESSION 1.0 INTRODUCTION When people talk about recession, it refers to job losses and tough times for families. However, what is actually a recession? The meaning of recession is defined as the act of receding or withdrawing. (Dictionary.com, 2012). In terms of economy, recession is defined as “typically accompanied by a drop in the stock market, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the housing market.” (InvestorWords.com, 2012). Furthermore, according to Davis (2008), The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months”. Besides, the Business Cycle Dating Committee at NBER defines a recession as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity bottoms out. In other words, a recession is said that exists in an economy, is only when a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two consecutive quarters. According to Abrahams et al. (n.d.), FedEx Express, the world‟s largest cargo airline, is always referred as an economic indicator. This is because, its business instantly reflects the economic condition, where the more economic activity, the more revenue for FedEx Express. Other macroeconomic indicators are employment, investment spending, household income, GDP and business profits fall, while unemployment and bankruptcies rate increase. Actually, there are different degrees of recession, such as mild and brief which affects the businesses only moderately; or the recession lingers and the downturn is widespread, all businesses may ultimately be hurt. Therefore, a recession may affect an economy in such a way that (1) slowdown in GDP growth; (2) reduction in business; (3) reduction in consumption; (4) reduction in investment and (5)
Open Document