In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions occur when there is a widespread drop in spending; this may be triggered by various events, such as a financial crisis, an external trade shock, an adverse supply shock or the bursting of an economic bubble. In the United States, it is defined as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the market, lasting more than a few months visible in real GDP, real income, industrial production, wholesale-retail sales". In the United Kingdom, it is defined as a negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters. Governments respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic policies, such as increasing money supply or increasing government spending and decreasing taxation In a 1974 The New York Times article, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Julius Shiskin suggested several rules of thumb for defining a recession, one of, two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

In time, the other rules of thumb were forgotten. Some economists prefer a definition of a 1.5-2 percentage points rise in unemployment within 12 months. In the United States, the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research is seen as the authority for dating US recessions; the NBER, a private economic research organization, defines an economic recession as: "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months visible in real GDP, real income, industrial production, wholesale-retail sales". Universally, economists, policy makers, businesses refer to the determination by the NBER for the precise dating of a recession's onset and end. In the United Kingdom, recessions are defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, as measured by the seasonal adjusted quarter-on-quarter figures for real GDP; the same definition is used by member states of the European Union. A recession has many attributes that can occur and includes declines in component measures of economic activity such as consumption, government spending, net export activity.

These summary measures reflect underlying drivers such as employment levels and skills, household savings rates, corporate investment decisions, interest rates and government policies. Economist Richard C. Koo wrote that under ideal conditions, a country's economy should have the household sector as net savers and the corporate sector as net borrowers, with the government budget nearly balanced and net exports near zero; when these relationships become imbalanced, recession can develop within the country or create pressure for recession in another country. Policy responses are designed to drive the economy back towards this ideal state of balance. A severe or prolonged recession is referred to as an economic depression, although some argue that their causes and cures can be different; as an informal shorthand, economists sometimes refer to different recession shapes, such as V-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped and W-shaped recessions. The type and shape of recessions are distinctive. In the US, v-shaped, or short-and-sharp contractions followed by rapid and sustained recovery, occurred in 1954 and 1990–91.

Japan's 1993–94 recession was U-shaped and its 8-out-of-9 quarters of contraction in 1997–99 can be described as L-shaped. Korea, Hong Kong and South-east Asia experienced U-shaped recessions in 1997–98, although Thailand’s eight consecutive quarters of decline should be termed L-shaped. Recessions have psychological and confidence aspects. For example, if companies expect economic activity to slow, they may reduce employment levels and save money rather than invest; such expectations can create a self-reinforcing downward cycle, bringing about or worsening a recession. Consumer confidence is one measure used to evaluate economic sentiment; the term animal spirits has been used to describe the psychological factors underlying economic activity. Economist Robert J. Shiller wrote that the term "...refers to the sense of trust we have in each other, our sense of fairness in economic dealings, our sense of the extent of corruption and bad faith. When animal spirits are on ebb, consumers do not want to spend and businesses do not want to make capital expenditures or hire people."

High levels of indebtedness or the bursting of a real estate or financial asset price bubble can cause what is called a "balance sheet recession". This is when large numbers of consumers or corporations pay down debt rather than spend or invest, which slows the economy; the term balance sheet derives from an accounting identity that holds that assets must always equal the sum of liabilities plus equity. If asset prices fall below the value of the debt incurred to purchase them the equity must be negative, meaning the consumer or corporation is insolvent. Economist Paul Krugman wrote in 2014 that "the best working hypothesis seems to be that the financial crisis was only one manifestation of a broader problem of excessive debt—that it was a so-called "balance sheet recession". In Krugman's view, such crises require debt reduction strategies combined with higher government spending to offset declines from the private sector as it pays down its debt. For example, economist Richard Koo wrote that Japan's "Great Recession" that began in 1990 was a "balance sheet recession".

It was triggered by a collapse in land and stock prices, which caused Japanese firms to have negative equity, meaning their assets were worth l

Cole Taylor was a pornographic actor who worked in gay adult film in the 1980s. He debuted in 1984, delivered a notable performance in a bisexual film, starred in what may be gay adult film's first safe sex film in 1985, he died in 1989. He made his debut in the Nova Studios production Heroes, his acting debut was inauspicious. One reviewer for Manshots magazine noted, "... Taylor was cute, but he lacked the look or sound of mature authority needed to play the role of a teacher convincingly; that was however, the role assigned him by." "... Taylor's line readings sounded so frothily coy and cheerful, you'd have thought he'd studied with Billie Burke. Miscasting had sabotaged a key part of the old Nova formula: That nothing in a man's looks, environment, or voice should seem stereotpyically gay."Despite this performance, Taylor continued to perform in adult film. He turned in only two more notable performances, in Full Grown, Full Blown, the bisexual production Cross Over. Although his performance may not have been notable, another of his films was.

Lifeguard, an original performance produced in 1985 by HIS Video, may be the first safe sex gay adult film made. In between scenes, Robert Bolan, president of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discussed safe sex practices. Gay adult film historian Jeffrey Escoffier notes that the film showcased some of the most popular performers of the day, which included Taylor. By the end of his career, Cole Taylor made about 25 pornographic films. According to adult film historian Rex Hardesty, Taylor died in 1989. Hardesty did not disclose the cause of death. According to the industry publication Adam Film World, Taylor was bisexual. Adam Film World. 1991 Directory of Gay Adult Videos. Los Angeles, Calif.: 1990. Adam Film World. 1992 Directory of Gay Adult Videos. Los Angeles, Calif.: 1991. Atkol Video. Atkol Comprehensive Guide to Adult Male Videos. Plainfield, N. J.: Atkol, 1990. Burger, John R. One-Handed Histories: The Eroto-Politics of Gay Male Video Pornography. New York: Haworth Press, 1995. Escoffier, Jeffrey.

Bigger Than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema From Beefcake to Hardcore. Philadelphia, Pa.: Running Press, 2009. Hardesty, Rex. "Nova Studios, Part Two: The Final Years." Manshots. August 1997. Wayne, Bruce. Gay Porn Star Directory. Laguna Hills, Calif.: Companion Press, 2000

Essential Pogues is a greatest hits album by The Pogues, released in November 1991. "The Sunny Side of the Street" "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" "Lorelei" "Thousands Are Sailing" "White City" "Fairytale of New York" "Fiesta" "Rain Street" "Turkish Song of the Damned" "Summer in Siam" "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" "Blue Heaven" "Honky Tonk Woman" "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" Shane MacGowan - lead vocals, guitar Terry Woods - cittern, vocals Philip Chevron - guitar, vocals Spider Stacy - tin whistle, vocals Andrew Ranken - drums Jem Finer - banjo, saxophone Darryl Hunt - bass guitar Kirsty MacColl - vocals on "Fairytale of New York" James Fearnley - accordion Cait O'Riordan - bass, vocals Siobhan Sheahan - harp on "Fairytale of New York" Henry Benagh - fiddle Elvis Costello - acoustic guitar Brian Clarke - alto saxophone on "Fiesta" Joe Cashman - tenor saxophone on "Fiesta" Eli Thompson - trumpet on "Fiesta" Chris Lee - trumpet Paul Taylor - trombone Ron Kavana - tenor banjo, mandolin on "Thousands Are Sailing" Tracks produced by Steve Lillywhite except tracks 1, 8, 10 - Joe Strummer