Good question.<br /><br />I understand the &ldquo;Great Recession,&rdquo; which was apparently not very long or very great. The Depression was &ldquo;great&rdquo; and long (in a bad way).<br /><br />&ldquo;The Great Recession&mdash;which officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009&mdash;began with the bursting of an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble&rdquo; (<a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/great-recession/">http://stateofworkingamerica.org/great-recession/</a>).<br /><br />The issue with the text below is the time frame.<br /><br />This survey was conducted in 2008 during the Great Recession when investment values were highly volatile and declining quickly, and it compared that time with 2003, which was somewhat better in the financial markets (Smeeding, 2012).<br /><br />Hope this helps. If not, let&rsquo;s keep working on it.