Who Can You Turn To
In Times Of Crisis?

Everyone is being told that we must tighten our belts in these trying economic times. Even the government says they will have to make cuts. The US public has already been making budget cuts. In addition, they have lost investments and are paying higher costs for food, education, medical, gas, merchandise, etc. And... what EXACTLY has government cut during these times? ? ? ? Right! I can't name anything either.

Well who's going to be looking out for you? Government? How about you look out for yourself by becoming more informed. Changing just one thing in your lifestyle to fight recession might not make a significant dent in your situation, however, trying implementing 4 or 5 changes and see how dramatic things could be for you. What if you could run your car on water, never pay large electricity bills again, reduce your debt, repair your credit and feel better mentally and physically? Could that change things substantially for you?

Recession

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A recession is a contraction phase of the business cycle, or "a period of reduced economic activity." The U.S. based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession more broadly as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." A sustained recession may become a depression.

Some business & investment glossaries add to the general definition a rule of thumb that recessions are often indicated by two consecutive quarters of negative growth (or contraction) of gross domestic product (GDP). Newspapers often quote a this rule of thumb, however the measure fails to register several official (NBER defined) US recessions.

There are all kinds of things that can change the course of the economy, just as there all kinds of things that can change the demand for a particular product. In some cases, a recession might be kicked off by over-production -- a situation in which the supply exceeds the nation's ability to consume.

One factor that generally plays a role in a recession, whether or not it is the cause, is the confidence level of the millions of consumers and producers. If consumers stop feeling confident about their job security or the value of their investments, they won't buy as much stuff. In the current recession, a lot of people who have been laid off are spending as little as possible, and many people who fear they may be laid off are also saving their money.

Just as in an expanding economy, things tend to snowball in a contracting economy. There are thousands of different elements in this downward spiral; you can see the snowballing effect in any number of specific situations.

Spotting a Recession

In the United States, the economy follows a somewhat regular pattern of expansion and contraction. The economy will typically expand steadily for six to 10 years and then enter a recession for six months to two years. The point where the recession begins is known as a peak, and the point where it ends as known as a trough. Following the trough, the economy expands again toward another peak. Economists call the period of time between two peaks a business cycle.

When the nation is in the early part of a recession, nobody knows for sure if it is actually a recession or not. The economy might turn around the next day, which would mean the contraction was just a temporary decrease in activity along a mostly upward track. Economists don't know if the economy is in recession until they can gather data over an extended period of time -- typically six months or more.

There is no strict definition for recession. Different people consider different factors when making the assessment.

Some economists and journalists define a recession as two consecutive quarters (three-month financial periods in the year) in which the gross domestic product (GDP) decreases. The GDP is the value of all the reported goods and services produced by people and institutions operating in a country. An overall decrease in the value of goods and services indicates that demand has decreased in most markets. If this is the case, it's a good bet that companies have laid people off, so unemployment is up. Usually the stock market is also in bad shape when overall value is decreasing. In general, the GDP is a pretty good indicator of the overall state of the economy.

But the economists who officially designate a recession in the United States do not rely on the GDP alone. By general agreement, the official determination of recession is left to the Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The NBER is not a government agency; it is a private organization that works to further understanding of the economy. This non-profit, non-partisan organization employs hundreds of economy experts (university professors, mostly) to analyze and report on the U.S. economy.

6 WAYS TO SURVIVE A RECESSION