What Are Recessions? Plus Thoughts on the Next One: QuickTake

The debate over whether the US economy will tumble into recession in the next two years -- and if so, when -- has been the subject of heated debate among economists, policymakers, investors and business executives for much of 2022. Inflation accelerated to levels not seen since the early 1980s, leading the Federal Reserve to take aggressive action to fight it. Worries grew that the global economy would also fall into recession as central banks across the world rapidly raised interest rates.

1. What constitutes a recession?

A common rule of thumb is that it’s when the government’s hallmark measure ...