Depression

In economics, a de-pression is a serious and prolonged financial downturn that carries on for several years.

Such events are considered much more severe than recessions even though they share many of the same traits.

These include high unemployment, low investment, unavailability of credit, defaults, bankruptcies and a massive reduction in economic activity.

The Great Depression of the 1930s is widely considered the worst recession in recent memory, followed closely by the Great Recession of 2008.