Nancy Pelosi Previously Called 2 Quarters of GDP Contraction ‘the Technical Definition of Recession’

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks during a ceremony unveil
Eric Lee/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) once described two quarters of economic contraction as the “technical definition” of recession in 2008, despite Democrats now downplaying negative economic growth under President Joe Biden’s leadership.

“And so while they may have saved the second quarter from a technical definition of recession, the fact is, we are now into the third quarter and we need to have another stimulus package,” Pelosi said in July 2008:

This flashback emerges after Thursday’s reporting, showing U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrinking by 0.9 percent in the second quarter of the year, which follows the economy contracting by 1.6 percent in the first quarter. Two consecutive quarters of contraction typically point to a recession:

The economy contracted by 1.6 percent in the first quarter. Many Americans consider two straight quarters of recession to be the marker of a recession. Economists, however, rely on the determination of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) to say when a recession starts. The NBER has a more complex and subjective definition of recessions and typically does not declare a recession until several months after it has begun.

However, Democrats remain in denial, including President Biden himself:

As a result, Democrats have become subjects of mockery for seemingly attempting to change the definition of recession to better suit their political narrative:

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