When does a recession begin and when does it end?
The dating of a business cycle is done by the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Go to NBER's web site and read the Nov. 26, 2001 memo as well as the set of FAQs. Summarize in your own words the economic indicators that the committee tracks to be able to determine the beginning and the end of a recession. Now, go to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas site. Click on the tab Economic Data and then click on U.S. Economic data and finally on National Income and Product accounts to retrieve the most recent data on U.S. GDP. In view of the data from 2007 to the most recent data of 2009, will you argue that the recession has ended? You can consult other data on the Dallas FRB site as well as other memos and announcement on the NBER site.