Will it be a depression

The Reserve Bank says New Zealand faces its worst economic crisis for 160 years – and today’s GDP stats confirm it.

Out of interest, New Zealand has experienced just two depressions and 12 recessions over the last 160 years:

• The Long Depression of the 1880s
• The Great Depression of the 1930s
• The Post-War Recession of March 1948 to December 1948 (4 quarters)
• The Waterfront Recession of March 1951 to December 1951 (4 quarters)
• The Wool Bust Recession of September 1967 to December 1967 (2 quarters)
• The First Oil Shock Recession of September 1975 to December 1975 (2 quarters)
• The Second Oil Shock Recession September 1976 to March 1978 (7 quarters)
• The Third Oil Shock September 1982 to March 1983 (3 quarters)
• The Sharemarket Crash Recession of December 1987 to June 1988 quarters (3 quarters)
• The Government Confidence Recession of September 1989 to March 1990 quarters (3 quarters)
• The Gulf War Recession of March 1991 to June 1991 quarters (2 quarters)
• The Asian Economic Crisis Recession of September 1997 to March 1998 quarters (3 quarters)
• The Cullen and GFC Recession of March 2008 to June 2009 quarters (6 quarters)
• The Canterbury Earthquakes Recession of September 2010 to December 2010 quarters (2 quarters)

The Reserve Bank said this downturn may be worse than any of these!