FIGURE 7 REAL GDP RELATIVE TO THE PEAK OF THE BUSINESS CYCLE
The 2007–2009 recession is compared to the previous two recessions in 1990–1991 and 2001 by indexing real output to the peak of the business cycle. The 2007–2009 downturn was deeper; in both of the previous recessions, GDP was back to the previous peak within 18 months.