Anybody with access to news of some sort has most likely heard that they, no matter where they live, are going through a recession.

We at Dumbagent would like to remind our readers that a recession signifies two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. We will also provide you with a list of countries that are currently in a recession:

• Ireland
• Estonia
• Germany
• Japan

The E.U. area is also in a recession, thanks mainly to Germany. No other country is currently in a recession.

There is a very good argument to be made (as has been done by the Economist) to change the definition of Recession, but this would also have to follow agreed upon standards and it is another topic altogether.

And, while many people like to say “It feels like a recession”, one can no more feel a recession than they can feel a high Beta in their stock portfolio. It is therefore important to remember that, despite CNN’s Recession watch and despite more or less one year of news articles stating it as a given fact, we must wait for GDP growth to tell us when we are officially in a banana.