Talk:Recession

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Recession article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the subject of the article.

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view · edit Frequently asked questions TL;DR from Beland: If you are about to hate-post "The definition of a recession is two quarters of declining GDP!": the article already says that, so this would be a waste of time unless you have further suggestions for improving the article. If you are here to complain Wikipedia changed the definition to favor the Biden administration, please don't, because 1.) the article has mentioned both the "two quarter" and NBER definitions for years, and that hasn't changed recently, 2.) after discussion by editors from a diversity of political perspectives, the introduction has actually been changed so it emphasizes the "two quarter" definition a little more, which we expect you will find satisfactorily neutral. But feel free to leave a note if you read the article and still have concerns.

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This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations: Emma Bowman (July 29, 2022). "What is a recession? Wikipedia can't decide". NPR. Christine Mui (July 29, 2022). "The recession debate is so intense that Wikipedia has blocked new users from editing its recession page because people keep changing the definition". Fortune. Christopher Hutton (July 29, 2022). "Wikipedia restricts edits to 'recession' page after Biden denial of definition". Washington Examiner. James Bickerton (July 29, 2022). "Wikipedia Suspends Editing of Recession Page as Biden Rejects Claims". Newsweek. Zachary Leeman (July 29, 2022). "Wikipedia Suspends Editing 'Recession' Page After Users Furiously Debate Definition". Mediaite. Alec Schemmel (July 29, 2022). "Wikipedia freezes edits to 'recession' entry after editors try to align with Biden". KBOI-TV. Clara Hernanz Lizarraga (August 2, 2022). "Wikipedia Blocks Some Users From Editing Its 'Recession' Page". Bloomberg News. Brad Dress (August 2, 2022). "Wikipedia launching new restrictions for users editing 'recession' page". The Hill. Gayathri Loka (August 2, 2022). "Misleading: Wikipedia changed the definition of recession to favor U.S. President Joe Biden". Logically. Phillip Nieto (August 3, 2022). "Wikipedia restricting new users from editing 'recession' page". Fox Business. Weston Blasi (August 3, 2022). "Wikipedia stops some users from editing its 'Recession' page due to large amounts of 'nonsense and vitriol'". MarketWatch. Julie Hyman and Brian Sozzi (August 3, 2022). "Wikipedia changes editing rules for 'recession' page". Yahoo! Finance. Gabrielle Bienasz (August 3, 2022). "Wikipedia Is Restricting Editing on Its 'Recession' Page Due to Arguing". Entrepreneur. Noam Cohen (August 5, 2022). "Judges rely on Wikipedia for their opinions, a new study finds". The Washington Post. Andrew Orlowski (August 8, 2022). "Wikipedia has become a tool of the Left in the battle to control the truth". The Telegraph. Samuel Breslow (August 11, 2022). "How a False Claim About Wikipedia Sparked a Right-Wing Media Frenzy". Slate. Stephen L. Carter (August 2, 2022). "Are We in a Recession? Don't Ask Wikipedia". Bloomberg News. James Spiro (November 21, 2022). "Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales on online toxicity, Musk, and the battle for internet accuracy". CTech. Gareth Corfield (February 25, 2023). "Wikipedia is not woke, insists founder Jimmy Wales". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 16, 2023. Margi Murphy (March 7, 2025). "Wikipedia Roiled With Internal Strife Over Page Edits About the Middle East". Bloomberg News. Retrieved March 7, 2025. Stephen Harrison (April 12, 2025). "How Trump's Stock Market Chaos Is Dividing Wikipedia". Slate (magazine). Retrieved April 12, 2025.

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Recession has been linked from multiple high-traffic websites. All prior and subsequent edits to the article are noted in its revision history. Table July 28, 2022 The Daily Wire Wikipedia’s ‘Recession’ Page Shows 41 Edits In One Week, Attempts At Changing Definition Traffic July 28, 2022 OutKick Wikipedia Bans Edits to ‘Recession’ Page Traffic July 28, 2022 Hannity.com WIKI TWEAKS: 41 Edits Made to Wikipedia's 'Recession' Page in One Week Traffic July 28, 2022 The Post Millennial Wikipedia redefines 'recession' to resemble Biden's changes—then locks page to new edits Traffic July 28, 2022 Daily Mail Wikipedia joins in the gaslighting! Online encyclopedia SUSPENDS edits to its 'recession' page after woke users changed definition to align with Biden's claim that the US isn't in one Traffic July 28, 2022 The Daily Caller Wikipedia Attempts To Change The Definition Of ‘Recession’ 41 Times Traffic July 29, 2022 New York Post Elon Musk blasts Wikipedia after it suspends edits of 'recession' page Traffic

I thought a recession was two consecutive quarters not “a couple of months” 2600:6C40:1900:5B78:8CD7:8FEF:FC7A:109B (talk) 17:39, 23 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed the article lead says "two consecutive quarters of decline in a country's real gross domestic product (real GDP) is commonly used as a practical definition of a recession". Where did you get "couple of months" from? The article does not have that text. – wbm1058 (talk) 16:54, 25 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

A quote from the introduction: "In the United States, a recession is defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the market, lasting more than a few months" – 'Significantly' and 'lasting more than a few months'. Probably wise economists have written much about the meaning of these words to civilize the American people that live in the middle of poor information, that is, advertisements. 17:34, 7 October 2022 (UTC) Jari Rauma (talk) 17:34, 7 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

why is NBER the authoritative source? Foxhoundz (talk) 21:09, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

is not a global definition and should be removed from its current position at the top of the lead soibangla (talk) 15:59, 15 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, I reverted. The lead has been the subject of extensive discussion on this talk page, including RFCs. We need to respect the outcomes of those discussions. MrOllie (talk) 16:21, 15 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It's the global/scholar definition. Same everywhere.

If you change it, you may delete the "historical" part. 2A01:CB00:118C:7600:C98B:AC57:F341:3904 (talk) 09:55, 1 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 9 January 2024 and 12 April 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hachaudhari (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Hachaudhari (talk) 22:46, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

show the 2022 two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth "recession" has been revised away

it never happened after all

now they tall us

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1uopw soibangla (talk) 22:32, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, that kerfuffle feels like such a long time ago. A good example of why recession is a retroactively-defined concept by economists Andre🚐 22:55, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a reason that the article has a live tracker? It feels a bit odd for an encyclopedia article, and it's going to be a bit of a maintenance task. — Red-tailed hawk _(nest) 16:15, 22 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is an article about the concept of a recession globablly. That little interlude about how presidents are blamed for recessions and the Early 1980s recession in the United States does not deserve a whole section. I feel it would be best to integrate it into history.--Bellerophon5685 (talk) 20:38, 27 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]