List of recessions - Definition and Overview

This is a list of notable recessions, depressions and downturns. All dates are approximate as the recessions began and ended in different parts of the world at different times. Also note that before detailed economic statistics began to be gathered in the nineteenth century it was very difficult to tell when recessions occurred, but prior to industrialization economic downturns usually coincided with problems in agriculture.

• Panic of 1837 - 1837 to 1843, a sharp downturn in the American economy caused by bank failures and lack on confidence in the paper currency

• Panic of 1857 - 1857 to 1860, failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. bursts a European speculative bubble in U.S. railroads and loss of confidence in U.S. banks

• Panic of 1873 - 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 to 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.

• Panic of 1893 - 1873 to 1896, failure of the U.S. Reading Railroad and withdrawal of European investment leads to a stock market and banking collapse

• Panic of 1907 - A run on Knickerbocker Trust Company stock October 22nd 1907 sets events in motion that will lead to a depression in the United States.

• Post-WWI recession - marked by sever hyperinflation in Europe over production in North America. Very sharp, but also brief.

• Great Depression - 1929 to late 1930s, stock market crash, banking collapse, and overproduction in the United States sparks a global downturn, including a second downturn 1937–1938.

• Oil Shock - 1973, an oil embargo by OPEC coupled with high government spending due to the Vietnam War leads to stagflation in the United States.

• 1979 energy crisis - 1979 until 1980, the Iranian Revolution sharply increases the price of oil

• Early 1980s recession - 1982 and 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 eighties recession - 1987 to early 1990s, collapse of junk bonds and a sharp stock crash in the United States leads to a recession in much of the West

• Japanese recession - 1991 to present, 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, The collapse of Dot Com Bubble contributes to a relatively mild contraction in the North American economy.

See also: List of stock market crashes

External links:

• National Bureau of Economic Research (http://www.nber.org)
• Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions (http://www.nber.org/cycles/)