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Putting Economic Dark Clouds in Perspective

Many experts argue that the Great Recession may have been the worst economic event since the Great Depression. But how does it compare to other economic events that have happened?

According to a new more encompassing economic indicator by the International Monetary Fund, there are several other economic events in the country’s history that were worse than the Great Recession, one of which happened 25 years AFTER the Great Depression. The indicator charted below combines several measures such as inflation, unemployment, government deficit, and GDP growth in one chart.

Notice in the charts below how this indicator paints a different pictures. During the Great Recession the indicator dropped down to the orange zone. But there were eight other economic situations in the past hundred years that resulted in this indicator dropping to orange as well, including the time period around World War II.

You can read more about the IMF white paper here.

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