There's so much effort put into timing the next recession. It's not just that they can't even do that with meaningful certainty-- it's that they also can't tell you how significant the recession will be. I mean, with full employment right now, of course a recession is on the horizon (who knows when). But, going from full employment to 1% less doesn't mean the economy or its people is even worse off than they were 2 years ago. Same thing with virtually any thing else that plugs into GDP.