Who Decides When We’re in a Recession? : Planet Money : NPR

When GDP growth slows, we face a familiar question: Are we heading for a recession? Are we already in one?

The colloquial term for a recession may seem clear-cut: two consecutive quarters of declining GDP. But that’s not entirely true, according to the actual committee members who make that call.

In this episode, we talk to the official committee—the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee—that studies economic data to figure out when we’re in a recession, and when it’s over. We asked them some questions! Find out what they snack on during their meetings. What economic indicators they study, why it takes them so long to make a decision, and what their work can tell us about our current strange economic situation.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin, designed by Gilly Moon, and edited by Jess Jiang.

music: “Soul Sitar“”Imagine” and”nod“

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