Recession index
Encyclopedia
The recession index is an informal index
created by The Economist
which counts how many stories in the Washington Post and the New York Times using the word “recession
” in a quarter.
This simple formula pinpointed the start of recessions in 1981, 1990, and 2001, but was misleading in the early 1990s
, when the index indicated a recession for a year after it had officially ended in March 1991.
The index has inspired serious research into testing whether the tone and volume of economic reporting over time has affected people's perceptions. Mark Doms (Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco) and Norman Morin (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System) (2004) created indexes based on the number of articles that contain certain keywords and phrases in the title or first paragraph in the thirty largest newspapers across the US. For instance, the "recession index" is based on the number of articles that mention "recession" or "economic slowdown.".
Index (economics)
In economics and finance, an index is a statistical measure of changes in a representative group of individual data points. These data may be derived from any number of sources, including company performance, prices, productivity, and employment. Economic indices track economic health from...
created by The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
which counts how many stories in the Washington Post and the New York Times using the word “recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
” in a quarter.
This simple formula pinpointed the start of recessions in 1981, 1990, and 2001, but was misleading in the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, when the index indicated a recession for a year after it had officially ended in March 1991.
The index has inspired serious research into testing whether the tone and volume of economic reporting over time has affected people's perceptions. Mark Doms (Federal Reserve Bank
Reserve Bank
Reserve Bank can amongst other things be:*Reserve Bank of Australia*Reserve Bank of Fiji*Reserve Bank of India*Reserve Bank of New Zealand*South African Reserve Bank*Federal Reserve Bank *Reserve Bank of Vietnam...
of San Francisco) and Norman Morin (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...
System) (2004) created indexes based on the number of articles that contain certain keywords and phrases in the title or first paragraph in the thirty largest newspapers across the US. For instance, the "recession index" is based on the number of articles that mention "recession" or "economic slowdown.".
See also
- Big Mac IndexBig Mac indexThe Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries...
- Christmas Price IndexChristmas Price IndexThe Christmas Price Index is a tongue-in-cheek economic indicator, maintained by the U.S. bank PNC Financial Services, which tracks the cost of the items in the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas."-Origins:...
- List of unusual units of measurement
- List of humorous units of measurement