Recession: 

In economics, the term economic recession is generally used to describe a situation in which a country's GDP, or gross domestic product, sustains a negative growth factor for at least 2 consecutive quarters. NBER's definition of recession is a bit vaguer than the standard one that was described above; they define recession as a "significant decline in economic activity lasting more than a few months". For this reason, the official designation of recession may not come until after we are in a recession for six months or even longer. The roots of a recession and its true starting point actually rest in the several quarters of positive but slowing growth before the recession cycle really begins. Often in a mild recession the first quarter of negative growth is followed by slight positive growth, then negative growth returns and the recession trend continues. While the "two quarter" definition is accepted globally, many economists have trouble supporting it completely as it does not consider other important economic change variables. For instance, current national unemployment rates or consumer confidence and spending levels are all a part of the economic system and must to be taken into account when defining a recession and its attributes. An economic recession is primarily attributed to the actions taken to control the money supply in an economy. The Federal Reserve is the agency responsible for maintaining the delicate balance between money supply, interest rates, and inflation. When this delicate balance is tipped, the economy is forced to correct itself. The Fed sometimes deals with these situations by putting in huge amounts of money supply into the money market. This helps to keep interest rates low, even as inflation rises. The only real benefit of an economic recession is that it will help to cure inflation. In fact, the delicate balancing act that the Fed struggles to pursue is to slow the growth of the economy enough so that inflation will not occur, but also so that a recession will not be triggered in the process.