Although the following definition is bleak and detailed, its dullness serves to emphasize the fact that the recession/depression question is not so easy to solve. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco attempted to come to a conclusion in 2007 – What is the difference between a recession and a depression? They agreed with the National Bureau of Economic Research’s definition of a recession:
A recession is defined as a major drop in economic activity across the economy that lasts more than a few months and is reflected in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial output, and wholesale-retail sales. A recession starts when the economy reaches its peak of activity and concludes when it hits its lowest point. The economy is expanding between the trough and the peak. The typical state of the economy is expansion; most recessions are brief and have been uncommon in recent decades.
And I turned to Gregory Mankiw to help me understand the difference between two types of economic contraction:
Real GDP has been falling for many years, the most striking example being the early 1930s. If the period is moderate, it is referred to as a recession; if it is more severe, it is referred to as a depression.
Despite the Federal Reserve’s best efforts, the simpler and more widely recognized definition of a recession is a drop in GDP for two consecutive quarters. However, there is little agreement when it comes to depressions; the two most prevalent descriptions are:
While the two meanings are not mutually exclusive, they do differ significantly. The distinction between a recession and a depression, in my opinion, is more complex. A recession is an unavoidable component of the business (or credit, as the case may be) cycle. A depression, on the other hand, entails the physical ruin of the economy: enterprises are irrevocably damaged, job possibilities are obliterated, and investment must be completely written off.
Examining prior Great Depressions is an alternative technique. Unfortunately, this strategy is also inconclusive. The Great Depression of the 1930s, for example, is widely thought to have lasted from 1929 to 1941, yet as the graph below shows, there were only two separate phases of decreased GDP growth between 1930 and 1933, and again between 1937 and 1938:
Despite my more practical definition above, I prefer the two-year-plus definition to the one based on a dramatic drop in GDP. Some aspects of the economy are harmed during a recession. Depression is becoming more common.
A rise in the unemployment rate is another element frequently linked to recessions and depressions. Historically, increased unemployment has preceded the commencement of recessions, and recessions have only been labeled depressions after they have lasted for a long time.
Another factor to consider is the absolute degree of inflation. In general, central banks respond to rising inflation by boosting short-term interest rates. This aids in the cooling of overheated economies. However, if they tighten too quickly, they risk triggering a recession by forcing the credit cycle into a rapid contraction. A depression, on the other hand, is frequently accompanied by an absolute drop in the price level, which is produced by an excessive amount of domestic or corporate debt.
Why does a depression definition matter to you as an investor? Because financial markets are anticipatory. If investors believe the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic will be ‘V’-Shaped, even a 20% drop in GDP, combined with zero interest rates, price support for government bonds, and fiscal expansion on a scale not seen since FDR’s ‘New Deal,’ will result in a steeply rising stock market. If, on the other hand, it becomes evident that a tsunami of creative destruction is sweeping entire industries away, even the most sumptuous of New Deals may not be enough to stem the flood of stock liquidation as investors flee to the safety of cash.
So far, the official policy response has been enough to persuade investors that a slump will not occur. If you scratch the surface of the S&P 500, though, you’ll see a very different image. The graph below depicts the market’s performance through the end of May. Since then, the S&P 500 index has been driven by the same five technology stocks:
The most successful industry has been technology. One rationale for such high valuations is that the pandemic has hastened a wide range of technological advancements, resulting in the possibility of considerably faster profits. The net present value of future technology cash flows has been shifted forward by several years, according to some analysts. It’s no surprise, they say, that these equities have shattered new all-time highs and will continue to rise.
The broader stock market has been riding the coattails of tech since May (at the time of writing, the MSCI World Index is up 1.73 percent YTD). For the time being, hope wins out over fear, although vaccines are still months away from becoming publicly available. Meanwhile, autumn is approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, bringing with it fears of a second wave of diseases.
The scenario is even worse for emerging markets. In Foreign Affairs The Pandemic Depression, Carmen and Vincent Reinhart wrote:
Despite being labeled a “global financial crisis,” the 2008 downturn was mostly a banking crisis in 11 advanced economies. Emerging economies were remarkably immune to the volatility of the recent global crisis, thanks to double-digit growth in China, strong commodity prices, and lean balance sheets. The current economic downturn is unique. Because of the worldwide nature of this shockthe new coronavirus knows no national bordersa bigger percentage of the global society is in recession than at any point since the Great Depression. As a result, the recovery will be slower and less robust than the downturn. Finally, the fiscal and monetary policies implemented to combat the contraction will alleviate rather than erase economic losses, implying that the global economy will take a long time to recover to where it was at the beginning of 2020.
According to the World Bank, more than 60 million people will be forced into extreme poverty globally. Meanwhile, in wealthy countries, bankruptcies that have been postponed due to government involvement may experience personal epiphanies as fiscal generosity is abruptly withdrawn. The demise of broad swaths of sophisticated market economies has just been postponed unless the lockdown limitations are relaxed and people feel safe, both medically and financially, to venture out and spend.
We will have had two quarters of reduced growth by next month, indicating that we are already in a serious recession. Large swaths of the economy have been permanently altered, increasing the likelihood of a depression. Millions of workers have been displaced, and retraining them will take far longer than a few months. It will be difficult for new and existing businesses to grow and hire new staff without the consumer demand from these former employees.
Fiscal spending will have to be done on a far larger scale and for much longer than previously anticipated. Since 1850, it has taken an average of eight years for per capita GDP to recover to pre-crisis levels in all major financial crises. The G20 response to the epidemic is estimated to have cost $11 trillion so far. The majority of these actions have been described as “temporary” or “short-term.” It is becoming increasingly evident that the disruption to employment, business, and economic sectors will be lengthy and, in many cases, permanent.
According to the IMF, the deficit-to-GDP ratio in advanced nations will grow from 3.3 percent in 2019 to 16.6 percent this year. The ratio is predicted to rise from 4.9 percent last year to 10.6 percent in 2020 for emerging nations, where budgetary expansion is more limited. While borrowing rates in established economies have stayed low, they have increased in emerging markets. The burden of fiscal stimulus will invariably fall most heavily on the advanced economies’ treasuries.
Conclusion
This isn’t the conclusion of the story. This isn’t even the start of the end. But it’s possible that this is the end of the beginning.
Individual economic needs are still important in Western (and other) aging civilizations. Governments in developed countries are fortunate in that they can borrow at lower rates than at any other period in history. While it goes against my Austrian, free-market principles, I have to admit that fiscal policy is the least painful weapon available to resist the pandemic’s economic catharsis. There will be a significant cost in terms of economics, but the alternative is a deadly mix of political fragmentation and polarization.
The goal of securing consistent real income for investors remains difficult. High-yielding private debt and asset-backed lending carries both default and liquidity risk. Financial repression is rampant across the credit spectrum, as shown in the chart below, which looks at some of the public market options:
High-income stocks may be a viable option, but no matter how ‘blue-chip’ the name, there is no certainty. Growth stocks, in general, are benefiting from the historically low-interest environment, but there will be a higher number of failures because the cost of speculative capital is also at an all-time low. Active management has been out of favor for at least a decade, but in the future, capital preservation will be more important than reaping large returns.
In June, I published a piece called A Brave New World for Value Investing, in which I concluded that:
Since late March, the stock and corporate bond markets have restored most of their stability. The repercussions of the global economic slowdown have been mitigated by central banks and governments. As the dust settles, the financial markets will adjust to a new environment, one in which value-based stock and bond market analysis will be an invaluable tool for navigating the waters.
The simultaneous supply and demand shocks, as well as their impact on global supply networks, have heightened the geopolitics of trade policy, which was already a source of conflict before the epidemic arrived. Supply networks will become shorter and more diverse. In the months and years ahead, robustness, not efficiency, will be the watchword. This shift in the global economy’s functioning will not come without a price. It will manifest itself in higher pricing or lower corporate profits. In this brave new world, value-based investment analysis will be the finest guidance.
An additional approach, a momentum overlay, would be added to the investment toolbox. Capital flows will be a formidable arbiter of investment return as fiscal and monetary policy continue to support economies as they transition to the new world order. By most conventional measures, technology companies appear to be overvalued, yet the trend is undeniable. After all, financial market liquidity flows like a tide, so don’t be like Cnut The Great and follow Brutus’ advice in the opening statement.
Is depression caused by a recession?
That is an excellent question. Unfortunately, there isn’t a standard answer, however there is a well-known joke about the difference between the two that economists like to tell. But we’ll return to that eventually.
Let’s start with a definition of recession. As previously stated, there are various widely accepted definitions of arecession. Journalists, for example, frequently define a recession as two consecutive quarters of real (inflation adjusted) gross domestic product losses (GDP).
Economists have different definitions. Economists use the National Bureau of Economic Research’s (NBER) monthly business cycle peaks and troughs to identify periods of expansion and recession. Starting with the December 1854 trough, the NBER website tracks the peaks and troughs in economic activity. A recession, according to the website, is defined as:
A recession is a widespread drop in economic activity that lasts more than a few months and is manifested in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. A recession begins when the economy reaches its peak of activity and concludes when it hits its lowest point. The economy is expanding between the trough and the peak. The natural state of the economy is expansion; most recessions are temporary, and they have been uncommon in recent decades.
While there is no universally accepted definition for depression, it is generally said to as a more severe form of recession. Gregory Mankiw (Mankiw 2003) distinguishes between the two in his popular intermediate macroeconomics textbook:
Real GDP declines on a regular basis, the most striking example being in the early 1930s. If the period is moderate, it is referred to as a recession; if it is more severe, it is referred to as a depression.
As Mankiw pointed out, the Great Depression was possibly the most famous economic slump in US (and world) history, spanning at least through the 1930s and into the early 1940s, a period that actually contains two severe economic downturns. Using NBER business cycle dates, the Great Depression’s first slump began in August 1929 and lasted 43 months, until March 1933, significantly longer than any other contraction in the twentieth century. The economy then expanded for 21 months, from March 1933 to May 1937, before experiencing another dip, this time for 13 months, from May 1937 to June 1938.
Examining the annual growth rates of real GDP from 1930 to 2006 is a quick way to highlight the differences in the severity of economic contractions associated with recessions (in chained year 2000dollars). The economy’s annual growth or decrease is depicted in Chart 1. The gray bars show recessions identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Great Depression of the 1930s saw the two most severe contractions in output (excluding the post-World War II adjustment from 1945 to 1947).
In a lecture at Washington & Lee University on March 2, 2004, then-Governor and current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke contrasted the severity of the Great Depression’s initial slump with the most severe post-World War II recession of 1973-1975. The distinctions are striking:
Between 1929 and 1933, when the Depression was at its worst, real output in the United States plummeted by over 30%. According to retroactive research, the unemployment rate grew from roughly 3% to nearly 25% during this time period, and many of those fortunate enough to have a job were only able to work part-time. For example, between 1973 and 1975, in what was likely the most severe post-World War II U.S. recession, real output declined 3.4 percent and the unemployment rate soared from around 4% to around 9%. A steep deflationprices fell at a rate of about 10% per year in the early 1930sas well as a plunging stock market, widespread bank failures, and a spate of defaults and bankruptcies by businesses and households were all aspects of the 1929-33 fall. After Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inauguration in March 1933, the economy recovered, but unemployment remained in double digits for the rest of the decade, with full recovery coming only with the outbreak of World War II. Furthermore, as I will show later, the Depression was global in scale, affecting almost every country on the planet, not just the United States.
While it is clear from the preceding discussion that recessions and depressions are serious matters, some economists have suggested that there is another, more casual approach to describe the difference between a recession and a depression (recall that I promised a joke at the start of this answer):
How long does it take for a recession to turn into a depression?
A recession is a long-term economic downturn that affects a large number of people. A depression is a longer-term, more severe slump. Since 1854, there have been 33 recessions. 1 Recessions have lasted an average of 11 months since 1945.
Is a recession or depression worse?
A recession is a negative trend in the business cycle marked by a reduction in production and employment. As a result of this downward trend in household income and spending, many businesses and people are deferring big investments or purchases.
A depression is a strong downswing in the business cycle (much more severe than a downward trend) marked by severely reduced industrial production, widespread unemployment, a considerable decline or suspension of construction growth, and significant cutbacks in international commerce and capital movements. Aside from the severity and impacts of each, another distinction between a recession and a depression is that recessions can be geographically confined (limited to a single country), but depressions (such as the Great Depression of the 1930s) can occur throughout numerous countries.
Now that the differences between a recession and a depression have been established, we can all return to our old habits of cracking awful jokes and blaming them on individuals who most likely never said them.
Will another Great Depression occur?
The 12-year Great Depression in America began with a crash 72 years ago. On October 24, 1929, the stock market bottomed out, indicating the start of the country’s longest and severe economic downturn. Everyone wants to know if a crash may happen again given that we are in an economic downturn.
Many industries in Washington state were shaken on October 24, dubbed “Black Thursday.” Although the disaster did not have the same impact on Washington as it did on other states, the consequences of the downturn and various government actions hurt certain sectors substantially.
After the 1929 Federal Reserve-industry catastrophe, unemployment in the United States skyrocketed. In the 1930s, the government’s ballooning taxes and regulations left the country entrenched in economic hardship.
Wheat prices in Washington had decreased to.38 cents per bushel by 1932, from $1.83 in the early 1920s. By 1935, the value of Washington farmland and buildings had decreased from $920 million to $551 million, despite a 300 percent increase in county debt statewide and a 36 percent drop in payrolls.
The state’s lumber industry was particularly heavily damaged by the economic downturn. Between 1929 and 1932, per capita lumber consumption in the United States fell by two-thirds. Washington’s annual lumber production fell from 7.3 billion feet to 2.2 billion feet during the same time period. By the end of 1931, at least half of mill workers had lost their jobs.
The Roosevelt administration’s measures accomplished little to boost the lumber business. Individual industries were subjected to tight production limitations and price controls under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933. Before the Act was declared unlawful in 1935, it barred the construction of new sawmills and limited individual operators to a set quota of production. More sawmills were erected as a result of failed federal monitoring, and total production per firm declined.
One part of the NIRA significantly increased big labor’s organizing strength and required managers to bargain with unions. Historians now consider the implementation of New Deal measures in the Pacific Northwest as a direct result of the solidification of Washington’s labor movement.
Is it possible for another Great Depression to occur? Perhaps, but it would require a recurrence of the bipartisan and disastrously dumb policies of the 1920s and 1930s.
Economists now know, for the most part, that the stock market did not trigger the 1929 crisis. It was a symptom of the country’s money supply’s extraordinarily unpredictable changes. The Federal Reserve System was the main culprit, having sparked a boom in the early 1920s with ultra-low interest rates and easy money. By 1929, the central bank had raised rates so high that the boom had been choked off, and the money supply had been reduced by one-third between 1929 and 1933.
A recession was turned into a Great Depression by Congress in 1930. It slashed tariffs to the point where imports and exports were effectively shut down. In 1932, it quadrupled income tax rates. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who ran on a platform of less government, gave America far more than he promised. His “New Deal” increased taxes (he once proposed a tax rate of 99.5 percent on incomes above $100,000), penalized investment, and suffocated business with regulations and red tape.
Washington, like all states, is subject to the whims of federal policymakers. And the recipe for economic depression remains the same: suffocating market freedom, crushing incentives with high tax rates, and overwhelming firms with suffocating regulations.
The 1929 stock market crash and the accompanying Great Depression are worth remembering not just because they caused so much suffering in Washington and abroad, but also because, as philosopher George Santayana warned, “Those who cannot recall history are destined to repeat it.”
Lawrence W. Reed is the director of Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy and an adjunct scholar at Seattle’s Washington Policy Center. Jason Smosna, a WPC researcher, contributed to this commentary.
How do you deal with depression?
Many people could walk out of one job and into another in the ‘good old days.’ The days of simply going into a separate corporate parking park and knocking on doors are long gone.
Of course, most rational people understand that keeping a job is more crucial than ever.
Even so, it’s good to be reminded that those with employment are inside the castle, while those without jobs are stranded in a harsh wilderness.
During the 1930s, not everyone had a difficult time. Those who were employed did not have to deal with the hardships that those who were unemployed did.
Meanwhile, individuals who are almost ready to retire might consider putting a little extra money down before leaving the workforce permanently. If the economy continues to deteriorate for another five to ten years, retirement fund projections could be drastically reduced. Before cutting the chord to your work income, it might be worth waiting until you believe the global crisis is over.
3. Maintain financial control
Even if free spending has decreased since the boom, personal money is still not a widely discussed topic in the media. With the financial crisis of 2010, we witnessed a significant shift away from trading at ADVFN.
This trend was brief, but it highlighted that in difficult circumstances, saving money is frequently more vital than making more. It doesn’t matter how much money you put at the top of your financial bucket if you have a hole in it. So, if the global economy is upsetting you, fix your own finances first before fussing about Bernanke’s Fed management.
4. Put your money on the line.
Hearing Warren Buffett declare that cash is a dangerous thing to hold makes me laugh because it’s a philosophy that is both accurate and counterintuitive to many people.
Cash, on the other hand, is useless paper that can be transformed into confetti with the flick of a switch. As I travel the world, I witness a wide range of pricing and how they fluctuate from month to month.
It’s only a question of how the next few years play out. Many aging ‘Jeremiahs’ anticipate a tidal wave of inflation sweeping over the globe, threatening to wipe out cash holdings. You don’t have to believe it; just keep an eye out for it to start. If you see it coming, move out of currency and into hard assets as soon as possible.
In any case, strive to convert your cash into items that will provide you with inflation or, better yet, income. Purchase a field and rent it out to horse owners, for example.
Anything that protects your capital against inflation while also generating cash flow is something you should look for, because if inflation occurs, your cash savings will be wiped out.
5. Maintain a positive attitude
It may be difficult out there, but someone is making a lot of money. They aren’t planning for the end of the world by reading depressing articles like this one. Sure, they got lucky, but fortune favors the bold.
It is the tail that suffers the most during a recession, even during the deepest depression. To survive, you must be at your best, with a grin on your face and an eye toward the future. Then you might do exceptionally well. The folks who freeze in fear of the approaching disasters are the ones who are most likely to be carried away.
There will be plenty of good times for people with a positive mental attitude, a focus on what matters, and a natural desire to work hard, no matter how bad things become.
While this depression appears to have no end, it does not have to define us. Most of us, like the ants in Aesop’s fable, are in good shape. The grasshoppers will be the ones to suffer.
What will happen if you are depressed?
Depression is a serious mental condition that can have a significant impact on a person’s life. It can lead to emotions of melancholy, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in activities that linger for a long time. It can also cause physical symptoms like as pain, a change in appetite, and sleep issues.
Is cash a good investment in a downturn?
- You have a sizable emergency fund. Always try to save enough money to cover three to six months’ worth of living expenditures, with the latter end of that range being preferable. If you happen to be there and have any spare cash, feel free to invest it. If not, make sure to set aside money for an emergency fund first.
- You intend to leave your portfolio alone for at least seven years. It’s not for the faint of heart to invest during a downturn. You might think you’re getting a good deal when you buy, only to see your portfolio value drop a few days later. Taking a long-term strategy to investing is the greatest way to avoid losses and come out ahead during a recession. Allow at least seven years for your money to grow.
- You’re not going to monitor your portfolio on a regular basis. When the economy is terrible and the stock market is volatile, you may feel compelled to check your brokerage account every day to see how your portfolio is doing. But you can’t do that if you’re planning to invest during a recession. The more you monitor your investments, the more likely you are to become concerned. When you’re panicked, you’re more likely to make hasty decisions, such as dumping underperforming investments, which forces you to lock in losses.
Investing during a recession can be a terrific idea but only if you’re in a solid enough financial situation and have the correct attitude and approach. You should never put your short-term financial security at risk for the sake of long-term prosperity. It’s important to remember that if you’re in a financial bind, there’s no guilt in passing up opportunities. Instead, concentrate on paying your bills and maintaining your physical and mental well-being. You can always increase your investments later in life, if your career is more stable, your earnings are consistent, and your mind is at ease in general.