Bernanke Uses The Word Recession

From Bernanke says recession possible:

Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday a US recession may have begun...

In remarks to US lawmakers, Bernanke said the economy has weakened since the Fed's latest outlook prepared in January, meaning a contraction is likely.

The latest data suggests the economy "will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly," Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

I am not sure what is more depressing - the fact that Bernanke is openly talking about a recession or that the fact he is currently doing so is wholly unremarkable.