What causes a recession

"At 104 months, the current economic expansion is already the third longest on record, and it will equal the secondlongest if it persists until April. This expansion, like all previous ones, will eventually end and be followed by a recession. Few economists are forecasting a recession in 2018, but recessions are notoriously hard to predict even a few months beforehand. For background, see CRS In Focus IF10411, Introduction to U.S. Economy: The Business Cycle and Growth, by [author name scrubbed].

As can be seen in Figure 1, previous expansions vary greatly in length but have recently been longer. Dating back to the 1850s, only five have lasted over five years, including the last three.

Figure 1. Length of Previous Expansions

Since World War II .."".

Recession