A period in which the economy is growing at a rate significantly below normal is called a recession or a contraction. An extremely severe or protracted recession is called a depression. You should be able to pick out the Great Depression in Figure 10.1, particularly the sharp initial decline between 1929 and 1933. But you also can see that the U.S. economy was volatile in the mid-1970s and the early 1980s, with serious recessions in 1973–1975 and 1981–1982. A moderate recession occurred in 1990–1991. The next recession did not begin for another 10 years, the longest period without a recession in U.S. history. It, too, was short and relatively mild, beginning in March 2001 and ending eight months later. The beginning of the current recession in 2007 is clearly visible in Figure 10.1.