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Our needlessly-precise definition of a recession is causing us needless trouble

  • Written by John Hawkins, Assistant Professor, School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra
Our needlessly-precise definition of a recession is causing us needless troubleDAVID CROSLING/AAP/RBA

Later today we’ll know what the bushfires and the coronavirus did to the economy in the three months to March: whether gross domestic product grew (as is usual) or whether it shrank (as is rare, and heralds a recession).

Gross domestic product (GDP) is an imperfect measure of everything that’s produced in the three...

Read more: Our needlessly-precise definition of a recession is causing us needless trouble

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