List of recessions in the United States

This is a list of recessions, financial crises, and depressions. A recession is defined as a decline in a country's gross domestic product (GDP), or negative real economic growth, for two or more successive quarters for a year. Recessions that have a Wikipedia article are considered notable and are therefore listed here. Many of the recessions listed here have affected economies on a worldwide scale, including the Great Depression, the late 1980s recession, and the early 2000s recession.

The list is sorted chronologically by the year when each recession first began, and from the earliest recession to the latest. Since recessions can affect several different countries beginning in different years, the recessions are considered to have begun during the year in which the recession was first recognized, while the recessions are considered to have ended the last year in which the recession was recognized. Also note that before detailed economic statistics began to be gathered in the nineteenth century, it was very difficult to tell when recessions occurred. In spite of this, prior to industrialization, economic recessions were typically caused by external actions on the economic system such as wars and variations in the weather.

Recessions

Great Depression: United States GDP annual pattern and long-term trend, 1920-40, in billions of constant dollars

1973 oil crisis: Long-Term Oil Prices, 1861-2006 (orange line adjusted for inflation, black not adjusted).

1979 energy crisis: Graph of Top Oil Producing Counties, showing drop in Iran's Production

Japanese asset price bubble: Inflation-adjusted house prices in Japan (1980–2005) compared to house price appreciation the United States, Britain, and Australia (1995–2005).

Late 1980s recession: Dow Jones (July 1987 through January 1988)

Early 2000s recession: The technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite index peaked in March 2000, reflecting the high point of the dot-com bubble.

Name	Duration	Comments	References
Panic of 1797	1797– 1800	Bank of England's deflation crosses the Atlantic and disrupts commercial and real estate markets in the colonies and Caribbean.
Panic of 1819	1819– 1824	The first major financial crisis in the United States.
Panic of 1837	1837– 1843	A sharp downturn in the American economy caused by bank failures and lack of confidence in the paper currency
Panic of 1857	1857– 1860	Failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company bursts a European speculative bubble in U.S. railroads and loss of confidence in U.S. banks
Panic of 1873	1873– 1879	Economic problems in Europe prompt the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, the largest bank in the U.S., bursting the post-Civil War speculative bubble
Long Depression	1873– 1896	Begins with the collapse of the Vienna Stock Exchange and spreads throughout the world. Some historians do not believe it is actually one large recession. It is important to note that during this period the global industrial production greatly increased. In the US for example, industrial output increased 4 times.
Panic of 1893	1893– 1896	Failure of the U.S. Reading Railroad and withdrawal of European investment leads to a stock market and banking collapse. Duration: 17 months
Panic of 1907	1907– 1908	Begins with a run on Knickerbocker Trust Company stock October 22nd 1907 sets events in motion that will lead to a depression in the United States. Duration: 13 months
Post-WWI recession		Marked by severe hyperinflation in Europe over production in North America. Very sharp, but also brief.
Great Depression	1929– 1939	Stock market crash, banking collapse in the United States sparks a global downturn, including a second but not heavy downturn in the U.S., the Recession of 1937. Durations: 43 and 13 months respectiviely.
Post-Korean War Recession	1953– 1954	The Recession of 1953 was a demand-driven recession due to poor government policies and high interest rates. Duration: 10 months
1973 oil crisis	1973– 1975	A quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC coupled with high government spending due to the Vietnam War leads to stagflation in the United States. Duration: 16 months
1979 energy crisis	1979– 1980	The Iranian Revolution sharply increases the price of oil
Great Commodities Depression	1980– 2000	General recession in commodity prices
Early 1980s recession	1982– 1983	Caused by tight monetary policy in the U.S. to control inflation and sharp correction to overproduction of the previous decade which had been masked by inflation
Late 1980s recession	1987– 1995	On Black Monday of October 1987 a stock collapse of unprecedented size lopped 22.6 percent off the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The collapse, larger than that of 1929, was handled well by the economy and the stock market began to quickly recover. However the lumbering savings and loans were beginning to collapse, putting the savings of millions of Americans in jeopardy.
Early 1990s recession	1990– 1992	Collapse of junk bonds and a credit crunch in the United States leads to one quarter of US GDP decline, and therefore not an official recession.
Japanese recession	1990– 2003	Collapse of a real estate bubble and more fundamental problems halts Japan's once astronomical growth
Asian financial crisis	1997	A collapse of the Thai currency inflicts damage on many of the economies of Asia
Early 2000s recession	2001– 2003	The collapse of the Dot Com Bubble, September 11th attacks and accounting scandals contribute to a relatively mild contraction in the North American economy. Since the US GDP never actually declined in this period it is not considered an official recession.

See also

• List of stock market crashes
• Recession

External links

• National Bureau of Economic Research
• Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions (List of NBER Recessions)