What is the difference between a recession and a depression?

Numbers match the citations in the article. A working link isn't proof that a page supports a claim; check the quoted passage and date.

1. 1

   Business cycles

   Cambridge University Press eBooks (Altug & Labadie)Published Sep 11, 2008Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “A different line of thought is due to Ragnar Frisch [192], who created the conceptual basis for much thinking regarding business cycles by formulating the notions of impulse and propagation mechanisms. In Frisch's model, business cycles arise through the response of a second-order dynamic system to random shocks. Slutsky's [407] contribution was to note that the sum of a number of uncorrelated shocks is capable of producing smooth movements in the generated series. Concurrent with these developments, the work of Burns and Mitchell [83] laid the groundwork for business cycle methodology at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). This research involves the dating of business cycles and the development of leading indicators for the US economy which continues to this day. Following the early work of Burns and Mitchell, interest waned in the study of business cycles as the post World War II focus shifted to stabilization policy. Keynes's General Theory [274] laid the foundations for the analysis of short-run economic fluctuations. During the post World War II period, the Keynesian framework was interpreted as a model of output determination at a point in time.”

2. 2

   Cement production and CO2 emission cycles in the USA: evidence from MS-ARDL and MS-VARDL causality methods with century-long data.

   Environmental science and pollution research international (Bildirici & Ersin)Published May 10, 2024Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “The phases of regimes coincide closely with NBER's official economic cycles for the USA. The second regime, characterized by expansions, lasts twice as long relative to the first, the contractionary regime, which contains severe economic recessions, as well as economic crises, the 1929 Great Depression, the 1973 Oil Crisis, the 2009 Great Recession, and the COVID-19 Shutdown and Wars, including WWI and II. In both regimes, the adverse effects of cement production on CO2 emissions cannot be rejected with varying degrees both in the long and the short run. Markov regime-switching vector autoregressive distributed lag (MS-VARDL) causality tests confirm unidirectional causality from cement production to CO2 emissions in both regimes. The traditional Granger causality test produces an over-acceptance of causality in a discussed set of cases. Industry-level policy recommendations include investments to help with the shift to green kiln technologies and energy efficiency. National-level policies on renewable energy and carbon capture are also vital considering the energy consumption of cement production.”

3. 3

   Mental health outcomes in times of economic recession: a systematic literature review

   BMC Public Health (Frasquilho et al.)Published Dec 1, 2015Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “One-hundred-one papers met the inclusion criteria. The evidence was consistent that economic recessions and mediators such as unemployment, income decline, and unmanageable debts are significantly associated with poor mental wellbeing, increased rates of common mental disorders, substance-related disorders, and suicidal behaviours. On the basis of a thorough analysis of the selected investigations, we conclude that periods of economic recession are possibly associated with a higher prevalence of mental health problems, including common mental disorders, substance disorders, and ultimately suicidal behaviour. Most of the research is based on cross-sectional studies, which seriously limits causality inferences.”

4. 4

   LIVES VERSUS LIVELIHOODS: THE IMPACT OF THE GREAT RECESSION ON MORTALITY AND WELFARE.

   The quarterly journal of economics (Finkelstein et al.)Published May 15, 2025Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “We leverage spatial variation in the severity of the Great Recession across the United States to examine its impact on mortality and explore the quantitative implications. We estimate that an increase in the unemployment rate of the magnitude of the Great Recession reduces the average annual age-adjusted mortality rate by 2.3%, with effects persisting for at least 10 years. Mortality reductions appear across causes of death and are concentrated in the half of the population with a high school degree or less. We estimate similar percentage reductions in mortality at all ages, with declines in elderly mortality thus responsible for about three-quarters of the total mortality reduction. Recession-induced mortality declines are driven primarily by external effects of reduced aggregate economic activity on mortality, and reduced air pollution appears to be a quantitatively important mechanism. Incorporating our estimates of procyclical mortality into a standard macroeconomic framework substantially reduces the welfare costs of recessions, particularly for people with less education, and at older ages.”

5. 5

   The Impact of Economic Recessions on Depression, Anxiety, and Trauma-Related Disorders and Illness Outcomes—A Scoping Review

   Behavioral Sciences (Guerra & Eboreime)Published Aug 31, 2021Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “Results suggest that existing models for mental health support and strategies for suicide prevention may be less effective than they are in non-recession times. It may be prudent to focus public education and medical treatments on raising awareness and access to supports for populations at higher risk, including those vulnerable to the impacts of job or income loss due to low socioeconomic status preceding the recession or high levels of financial strain, those supporting others financially, approaching retirement, and those in countries with limited social safety nets. Policy makers should be aware of the potential protective nature of unemployment safeguards and labour program investment in mitigating these negative impacts. Limited or inconclusive data were found on the relationship with traumatic disorders and symptoms of anxiety. In addition, research has focused primarily on the working-age adult population with limited data available on children, adolescents, and older adults, leaving room for further research in these areas.”