BBC: Don't mention the 'R-word'

[thedaffodils]

Hello! I read a report from the Daily Mail. The title of it is that in bold as below.

I think the R-word means to move back horizontally; downdurn refers to drop down vertically. Basically the two words imply the similar meaning about the negative economic circumstance.

Why does the R-word sound psychologically more severe than "downturn"? Could someone please explain it for me? Thanks!

BBC tells reporters: Don't mention the 'R-word'

The BBC is facing claims that it is avoiding using the 'R-word' - recession - to avoid being too depressing about the gloomy situation.

It has been alleged that reporters have been encouraged to opt for 'downturn'.

Sources have suggested that those covering the story for the BBC World Service have also been given the phrase 'global financial crisis' to use.

BBC tells reporters: Don't mention the 'R-word' | Mail Online

[susiedqq]

Recession is a scary word - but Depression is even more so. Americans are starting to hear that word used more often.

A downturn in the economy is much easier to ear.

Public panic is of concern.

[thedaffodils]

Recession is a scary word - but Depression is even more so. Americans are starting to hear that word used more often.

A downturn in the economy is much easier to ear.

Public panic is of concern.

Hi Susiedqq,

Thank you for your reply.

[SUDHKAMP]

It is the result of the porous borders of ecnomies and the whole world is paying for the follies of the largest economy in the world.

The word Global financial crisis is also very very scary. In 1929, only a few nations were affected. In GFC, whole world is going to be punished for next several years.
One can only pray to god.
What would they call it then, Global Financial Prayer?

[Tdol]

We use 'the F word' as a euphemism for fuck, so here it is the word people (especially the government) don't want to say or hear. Gordon Brown used it for the first time in public this week with quite dramatic results:
Pound slumps and shares tumble as Gordon Brown admits recession is looming - Telegraph

[susiedqq]

From About.com.economics

So how can we tell the difference between a recession and a depression?

A good rule of thumb for determining the difference between a recession and a depression is to look at the changes in GNP. A depression is any economic downturn where real GDP declines by more than 10 percent. A recession is an economic downturn that is less severe.
By this yardstick, the last depression in the United States was from May 1937 to June 1938, where real GDP declined by 18.2 percent. If we use this method then the Great Depression of the 1930s can be seen as two separate events: an incredibly severe depression lasting from August 1929 to March 1933 where real GDP declined by almost 33 percent, a period of recovery, then another less severe depression of 1937-38. The United States hasn’t had anything even close to a depression in the post-war period. The worst recession in the last 60 years was from November 1973 to March 1975, where real GDP fell by 4.9 percent. Countries such as Finland and Indonesia have suffered depressions in recent memory using this definition.

[thedaffodils]

Hello all,

Thank you for your responses.

From About.com.economics
...
So how can we tell the difference between a recession and a depression?
...

Susiedqq, thank you for this info. I'd like to write them down in my notebook.

[BobK]

In addition to susiedqq's points, financial pundits keep saying that there's a technical definition of "recession": 'two successive quarters of negative growth' - in GDP I think (Gross Domestic Product). I don't know the source for this definition.

So, while some countries are already in recession, GB (Great Britain) won't be technically (officially) in one until the end of the present quarter - which explains why GB's words were so dramatic.

b

[thedaffodils]

Thank you for your reply, Bobk.

[SUDHKAMP]

It was not the usage of R-word which made Gordon Brown's comments dramatic, but it was the first conformation by anyone from the western world governments that recession had set in. The buzz was going on in the informed circles for last three months. It is only now that the governments of USA and UK which are admitting it now. Recently the Indian PM Manmonhan Singh also admitted a slowdown in the annual GDP of India in near future. This was the first admission by the Indian government.
Thus Gordon Brown's usage was dramatic not because of R-word but due to the fact that it was the first confirmation of Recession setting in the western world.