Ask the NYT When the Recession Began

The New York Times has a good story today on page 1, explaining the consequences of recent volatility in the oil market, and exploring the ever-thorny question of what causes it. It especially notes that the rise in the price of oil in the last few months comes at a time of worldwide economic slowdown, which is the opposite of what you might expect.

I tripped, though, over this sentence: "But unlike last year, when the economy was still not in recession and demand for commodities was strong, the world today is mired in its worst slump in over half a century."

This is simply inaccurate. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (the outfit that actually decides these things), the U.S. economy went into recession in December of 2007. Hence, last year—July 2008—we were actually well into a recession. What the Times may mean is that the recession had not yet been officially declared, but it's hard to see why that would have a larger impact on the price of oil than actual economic contraction.