[Lexicog] A Rose By Any Other Recession

[bolstar1]

       An interesting article that introduces a new lexical item, plus a
new definition of an "understood" lexical item. First,"fughettaboutit"
(see below). It has such a distinctive spelling/pronunciation gloss,
I'll have to include it in my lexicon.
       Second, I was educated in the understanding that a "recession" was
two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. Not unlike E=MC2, it has such
elegance and pith . But all our concepts of recession need to be revised
(again see below). From now on, when we non-financial-specialists speak
of being in a recession, we'll have to say something like,"Gee, when do
you think this GDP/industrial Production/Employment/Personal
Income/Wholesale/Retail Sales slump will be over?"
       Who out there could complain about such an extravagant new name?"
What's in a name? That which we call a recession by any other name would
smell as sweet. (Romeo and Juliet 2.2.43-44)

The following was from Tech/Ticker --

Fughettaboutit. The U.S. economy is in a recession that began in late
2007 and is likely to last much longer than the typical downturn, says
Liz Ann Sonders
<http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/research_strategies/market_insight/\
schwab_experts/bios/liz_ann_sonders.html> , chief investment strategist
at Charles Schwab & Co.
Contrary to popular belief, "consecutive quarters of negative GDP" is
not what defines a recession. In fact, the National Bureau of Economic
Research uses five parameters
<http://www.nber.org/cycles/recessions.html>  to determine whether the
economy is growing or not:

Real GDP (inflation-adjusted GDP, that is)
Industrial Production
Employment
Personal Income
Wholesale/Retail Sales

By the way, Chaz & Fritz, I got your messages. You were regular Joe's in
saying those things.

Scott Nelson

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