Is America creeping toward another recession?

It's starting to look that way. And here's what's scarier: If a recession does hit, we really can't do much of anything about it.

The next recession may come soon than you'd think.
(Image credit: Jon Berkeley/Ikon Images/Corbis)

It's been seven years since the 2008 collapse. And if you look at the timing of recessions in recent decades, we're due for another one awfully soon.

Now, predicting recessions is an exceedingly tricky business. Almost by definition, you can't see them coming: Markets are dynamic systems, defined by actions and reactions and ever-shifting balances of forces. So if actors in a market spot the early signs that could indicate a recession, their natural self-interest will lead them to take actions that should head off the recession. The economic short-circuits that actually cause a recession are the ones nobody spots.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.